Born in Dallas in 1941, Charles Ford earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Lamar University and worked in the field for over a decade. In the 1980s, Ford left for New York where he began a career as a painter. Like the photorealists before him, such as Richard Estes and Chuck Close, Charles Ford assimilates photography into the world of painting. Typically working from photographs, Ford constructs mechanical and precise Texas scenes, largely free from artificiality and stylization. With meticulous attention to detail, Ford captures the characteristics of Texas living with paint. Finding inspiration in the state’s iconic landmarks and overlooked scenes, Ford not only presents the nuances of Texas scenes, but also communicates their emotional gravity and cultural significance. His commonplace subjects, theatres, grocery stores, and churches, have stories to tell. By showing his subject as they exist in accordance with what can be seen with the naked eye, truthfully and without painterly interposition, Ford strives to convey the essence of daily life and the feelings that accompany it.

Klump’s Grocery, Oakland School on the Navidad, and La Grange Smokehouse I (Le Boeuf sur LeToit) tell the story of Texas rural living. The subject of these works, humanmade structure, a school house, a grocery store, and a smokehouse, are the remains of a not-so-distant past. However, these structures are not merely relics. Rather, they exist as both relics of a bygone era, manifestations of the society’s previous incarnations, and as objects with relevant meaning for the present. By realistically and reverentially presenting the society’s antique buildings, solidly old-fashioned and rustic, Ford solidifies them as a part of contemporary everyday life, thereby highlighting the past’s inseparability to the present. Additionally, these three paintings function as idealized architectural portraits. They are keenly intent on exhibiting the likeness, personality, and mood of their subjects. The school house is quaint and solidly preserved. The smokehouse is kitschy and simple. The grocery store is welcoming.