Black Cowboy
Print on Archival Paper
Open Edition
18” x 24”
2022 (Signed)
$210
The print explores the duality of the adjective “Black” as helping understand a level of specificity, while at the same time acting as a word to exclude. Between one-third and one-quarter of working cowboys in the American Wild West were black. They were ropers, trail cooks, wranglers and bronco busters. The shear abundance does not match our collective knowledge driven by hundreds of Hollywood movie and tales reiterating this miss-truth that blacks were either unimportant or absent altogether in this countries creation.
As the show was meant dually as allegory, it illustrates the predicament with being “anything” while black in America. Are you a Black astronaut or astronaut, a black ballerina or ballerina, an African-American or just America?. The cowboy as a concept embodies that American ethos; spirt, courage, optimism, promise, opportunity, grit and just plain hard work. The print concept offers to challenge the observer to ask “was a black face the first image you conjured up in your head as a visual for that job?” What drives our biases? The print as an idea was too dispel the myth ands acknowledge that the Black Cowboy is just Cowboy.
Typographically, the print is a double entendre, accomplishing two ideas.
1. That African-Americans were too abundant for the adjective ‘black’ as an identifier to properly honor their contribution.The strikethrough communicates that it is not necessary.
2. Though common place as black men in the west, they are largely written from history. Hence the strikethrough in Black both free’s and entraps. In this way the strikethrough is used to erase
Print on Archival Paper
Open Edition
18” x 24”
2022 (Signed)
$210
The print explores the duality of the adjective “Black” as helping understand a level of specificity, while at the same time acting as a word to exclude. Between one-third and one-quarter of working cowboys in the American Wild West were black. They were ropers, trail cooks, wranglers and bronco busters. The shear abundance does not match our collective knowledge driven by hundreds of Hollywood movie and tales reiterating this miss-truth that blacks were either unimportant or absent altogether in this countries creation.
As the show was meant dually as allegory, it illustrates the predicament with being “anything” while black in America. Are you a Black astronaut or astronaut, a black ballerina or ballerina, an African-American or just America?. The cowboy as a concept embodies that American ethos; spirt, courage, optimism, promise, opportunity, grit and just plain hard work. The print concept offers to challenge the observer to ask “was a black face the first image you conjured up in your head as a visual for that job?” What drives our biases? The print as an idea was too dispel the myth ands acknowledge that the Black Cowboy is just Cowboy.
Typographically, the print is a double entendre, accomplishing two ideas.
1. That African-Americans were too abundant for the adjective ‘black’ as an identifier to properly honor their contribution.The strikethrough communicates that it is not necessary.
2. Though common place as black men in the west, they are largely written from history. Hence the strikethrough in Black both free’s and entraps. In this way the strikethrough is used to erase
Print on Archival Paper
Open Edition
18” x 24”
2022 (Signed)
$210
The print explores the duality of the adjective “Black” as helping understand a level of specificity, while at the same time acting as a word to exclude. Between one-third and one-quarter of working cowboys in the American Wild West were black. They were ropers, trail cooks, wranglers and bronco busters. The shear abundance does not match our collective knowledge driven by hundreds of Hollywood movie and tales reiterating this miss-truth that blacks were either unimportant or absent altogether in this countries creation.
As the show was meant dually as allegory, it illustrates the predicament with being “anything” while black in America. Are you a Black astronaut or astronaut, a black ballerina or ballerina, an African-American or just America?. The cowboy as a concept embodies that American ethos; spirt, courage, optimism, promise, opportunity, grit and just plain hard work. The print concept offers to challenge the observer to ask “was a black face the first image you conjured up in your head as a visual for that job?” What drives our biases? The print as an idea was too dispel the myth ands acknowledge that the Black Cowboy is just Cowboy.
Typographically, the print is a double entendre, accomplishing two ideas.
1. That African-Americans were too abundant for the adjective ‘black’ as an identifier to properly honor their contribution.The strikethrough communicates that it is not necessary.
2. Though common place as black men in the west, they are largely written from history. Hence the strikethrough in Black both free’s and entraps. In this way the strikethrough is used to erase