A Flock of Birds by Alasdair Wallace (b. 1967) depicts a large group of birds clustered in a circle in the centre. A landscape takes up the bottom portion of the work, with powerlines visible in thin lines and clusters of foliage. A large portion of the birds in the cluster contain details that allow the viewer to make out the individual species, from Gannets to Kites with their characteristically split tail. These birds would not normally appear together like this, creating a fantastical element to the piece. 

Wallace is well known for engaging work, often using colour to capture fine details such as here with each bird's unique characteristics and combining this with a sense of absurdity, reflective of how these groups of birds would never be together in real life like they are in this painting. The work contains influences of Surrealism, with its combination of bird species, relating to nature, in an unrealistic way, representing a bizarre vision. 

Alasdair Wallace, born 1967

Alasdair Wallace was born in Glasgow and trained at Glasgow School of Art from 1987 to 1991. Since graduating he has exhibited extensively in London and Scotland and won a number of awards. Wallace's paintings are ambiguous and engaging; he is one of the most imaginative artists working today. His style is characterized by a very tight and carefully orchestrated formal composition combined with an unusual density and richness of colour. Wallace has been influenced by Bosch, Giorgione and Bruegel, as well as by his first-hand study of medieval and early Renaissance art, which he admires for its sense of the absurd and fascination with the unusual. He has a marked affinity with the surrealist painters; in the work of both, bizarre visions are underpinned by the presence of nature.