Born in 1960, Walton Ford's creative work was predominantly influenced by the 1980s. The 1980s were a turbulent time culturally, and were marked by growing global capitalism, widespread mass media, significant discrepancies in wealth, alongside a distinctive sense of music and fashion, epitomised by electronic pop music and hip hop. Artists growing up during this time were heavily influenced by this cultural atmosphere. The 1980s were a key decade politically, marked by the African Famine and the end of the Cold War, which was signified by the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Neo Geo and The Pictures Generation became prominent art movements during the decade, alongside Neo-Expressionism which became well-known in Germany, France and Italy (where it was known as Transavanguardia). Artists such as Anselm Kiefer, Jörg Immendorf, Enzo Cucchi, Francesco Clemente and Julian Schnabel were key artists of the era, alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf, who established the street art and graffiti movements.
