Why People Love Cowboys: A Very Partial Review of The American West book and exhibition
Fuse, 2006, pp. 34-37
The American West exhibition critiques mythologies of the American West that continues to spread the propaganda of genocide. Including both contemporary art and vernacular artifacts collected from cowboy museums, truck stops and tourist shops, the curators illustrate how the myth of the West continues to effect everyday life in America.
The artists (including Kent Monkman and Lori Blondeau), curators and catalogue writers work though a complex set of dynamics; using humor, intelligence and friendship to refuse and decode the influence and propagandistic nature of "cowboy law".
ITEM 2006.039 – available for viewing in the Research Centre
Videos, Artworks and Artists Cited
End of the Frail – James Luna
A Cowboy's Ways – Dolly Parton
Bar Interior, La Jolla Indian Reservation, California – Richard William Hill
Cowboys – Maria Thereza Alves
St Thomas Trilogy – Kent Monkman
Death of General Wolfe – Edward Poitras
Red Handed – Terrence Houle
Lonely Surfer Squaw – Lori Blondeau
Indian Act – Nadia Myre
He(a)rd – Littleman Galloping
Aln Michelson