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The follow-up to the award-winning Extinct Boids, Ralph Steadman's Nextinction features more of the incredible art of cartoonist Ralph Steadman. This time the focus is not on the birds that are gone, but the ones that there's still time to save. These are the 192 Critically Endangered birds on the IUCN Red List, species such as the Giant Ibis, the Kakapo, the Sumatran Ground-Cuckoo and the iconic Spoon-Billed Sandpiper – these, along with a number of classic Steadman creations such as the Unsociable Lapwing, are the Nearly-Extinct Boids.
Woids are again by author, conservationist and film-maker Ceri Levy. Together, Ceri and Ralph are The Gonzovationists. A proportion of the proceeds from Ralph Steadman's Nextinction goes to BirdLife International, to help them prevent the Nextinction.
Ralph Steadman was born in 1936. He began his career as a cartoonist, and through the years has diversified into many creative fields. Ralph collaborated with Dr Hunter S. Thompson in the birth of 'gonzo' journalism, with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas; he has illustrated classics such as Alice in Wonderland, Treasure Island and Animal Farm, and written and illustrated his own books, which include Sigmund Freud, I Leonardo and The Big I Am. Steadman is also a printmaker, and has travelled the world's vineyards, culminating in his books The Grapes of Ralph, Untrodden Grapes and Still Life with Bottle.
Ceri Levy is a film-maker, who started out making music videos before moving into the world of documentaries. His works include Bananaz, a film about the inner machinations of the group Gorillaz, and the forthcoming The Bird Effect; as co-curator of the exhibition that started Ralph Steadman painting birds, Ceri is a crucial cog in the boids' creation myth.
"Steadman's colourful, spiky illustrations of critically endangered birds [...] a dazzling aviary of 'nearly extinct' boids. Save them all and make the ink-spattered Steadboid vert happy."
– Saga
"Hatched from the minds of gonzo cartoonist Ralph Steadman and writer-filmmaker Ceri Levy, Nextinction is a visual plea for conservation efforts, depicting nearly 200 birds facing an irrevocable fate: extinction. Levy's humorous but educational text accompanies a spectacle of colorful plumage rendered with Steadman's unique illustrative style, right down to those trademark ink blotches."
– Boston Globe
"Steadman has a talent for birds, and his scratchy, ink-splattered style works wonders with beaks and feathers. The text is informative and wildly eccentric by turns."
– New Statesman
"Nextinction is something of a rarity: a truly original take on popular science. Love them or hate them, Ralph Steadman's vivid cartoons bring out the character of these endangered birds in a way that photography and other illustrations can't match."
– BBC Focus
