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In many ways the dodo was David Beck’s muse. He was attracted to the dodo for its charming form and tragic tale. It held so much meaning while also offering itself to endless formal explorations. One cannot help but draw parallels between the dodo and Beck as an artist. He was singular in the kind of work he did; the highly refined craft, skill, and resourcefulness he employed is of a bygone era. Dodos En Suite harkens to the bronze works from the movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries known as Les Animaliers. This movement was audacious in its beginning for rendering animals in bronze, a medium previously reserved for the heroic depictions of great men, thus elevating their status from beast to noble creature. In adopting this formal presentation for his dodos, their tragic tale is made more poignant–an allegory for our time. There is a lot that Dodos En Suite brings to bare, but what ultimately delivers their punch is through the self-possession and innocence of their poses which shift from maternal, to contemplative, to awkward, to inquisitive, to elegant, and to the sublime. They are charming and delightful and utterly devastating.