"The exhibition Cowboy will bring together loans and new commissions from 27 artists representing a wide range of perspectives including Asian American artists, Latinx artists, and Native artists. The exhibition aims to shift the narrative of this figure’s cultural power and significance to be both historically accurate and creatively imaginative.
The exhibition asks: How does the myth of the cowboy exist today? How has the cowboy as an archetype of masculinity shaped how we think about gender now? What assumptions do we have about cowboys’ relationship to the land and how does this relate to the real, lived experiences of contemporary cowboys? By presenting a broad range of perspectives, this exhibition aims to break apart the homogenous ideal of the cowboy as a white, cisgender American male and showcase the diverse manifestations of this figure across many different communities and in a variety of media." - About the Exhibition, MCA Denver
On view through February 18, 2024.
Reading | Listening
Throughout the world, the cowboy is an instantly recognized symbol of the North American West. Legends of Our Times breaks the stereotype of 'cowboys and Indians' to show an almost unknown side of the West. It tells the story of some of the first cowboys - Native peoples of the northern Plains and Plateau.
As the daughter of a rancher in 1840s Mexico, Nena knows a thing or two about monsters--her home has long been threatened by tensions with Anglo settlers from the north. But something more sinister lurks near the ranch at night, something that drains men of their blood and leaves them for dead. Something that once attacked Nena nine years ago. Believing Nena dead, Něstor has been on the run from his grief ever since, moving from ranch to ranch working as a vaquero.
"Black Cowboys of Rodeo" is a collection of one hundred years' worth of cowboy stories - set against the backdrop of reconstruction, Jim Crow, segregation, the civil rights movement, and eventually the integration of a racially divided country - told in firsthand accounts from the cowboys themselves.
In the spring of 1877, Bridget--sixteen years old and already disillusioned after caring for her alcoholic father--is orphaned while crossing the Kansas prairie. She arrives penniless in Dodge City, and, thanks to the allure of her bright red hair and country-girl beauty, is soon recruited to work at the Buffalo Queen, the only brothel in town run by women. Bridget takes to brothel life instantly, appreciating the good food, good pay, and good friendships she forms with her fellow 'sporting women,' even catching the eye of the town's Sheriff's Deputy, who offers the Queen protection and security. Then, Spartan Lee--the most legendary (and only) female gunfighter in the region--rides into town, and Bridget falls in love.
Presents the collecting opening arc of author's series that marries the magical realism of Sandman with the western brutality of Preacher. This book tells a tale of retribution as beautifully lush as it is unflinchingly savage.
In Along Came a Cowgirl, New York Times best-selling author Chris Enss introduces you to the world of early rodeo--and to the stories of the women whose names resounded in rodeo arenas across the nation in the early twentieth century. These cowgirls dared to break society's traditional roles in the male dominated-rodeo and trickriding world, defying all expectations. With the desire to entertain crowds and a lot of grit and determination, they were able to saddle up and follow their dreams!
Weird Westerns is an exploration of the hybrid genre of the weird western, analyzing movies, TV shows, and comic books such as Django Unchained, The Walking Dead, and Wynonna Earp.
Elyssa Ford examines rodeo in Mexican American, Hawaiian, Native American, African American, and LGBTQ+ communities to argue for rodeo as a site of diverse, dynamic cultural performance. In addition to issues of race, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality, Ford also uses questions about sport, history, memory, and identity to explore the commonalities and key differences among specialized rodeo communities, how they developed, and why they've continued despite changes in American culture and society. Ultimately, Ford establishes that rodeo is a place where the past is performed, reproduced, and invented.
In Western Journeys, Teow Lim Goh charts her journeys immigrating from Singapore and spending the last fifteen years living in and exploring the American West. Goh chronicles her lived experiences while building on the longer history of immigrants from Asia during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, bringing new insights to places, the historical record, and memory. These vital essays consider how we access truth in the face of erasure. In exploring history, nature, politics, and art, Goh asks, "What does it mean for an immigrant to be at home?" Looking beyond the captivating landscapes of the American West, Goh uncovers stories of the Chinese people who came to America during the era of the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Indigenous peoples who have been written out of popular narratives, and the early mountaineers' merciless ambitions, among many others.
Margaret Parker and Hattie LaCour never intended to turn outlaw. After being run off their ranch by a greedy cattleman, their family is left destitute. As women alone they have few choices: marriage, lying on their backs for money, or holding a gun. For Margaret and Hattie the choice is easy. With their small makeshift family, the gang pulls off a series of heists across the West. Though the newspapers refuse to give the female gang credit, their exploits don't go unnoticed. Pinkertons are on their trail, a rival male gang is determined to destroy them, and secrets among the group threaten to tear them apart.
Thousands of black cowpunchers drove cattle up the Chisholm Trail after the Civil War, but only Nat Love wrote about his experiences. Born to slaves in Davidson County, Tennessee, the newly freed Love struck out for Kansas after the war. He was fifteen and already endowed with a reckless and romantic readiness. In wide-open Dodge City he joined up with an outfit from the Texas Panhandle to begin a career riding the range and fighting Indians, outlaws, and the elements. Years later he would say, "I had an unusually adventurous life."
Grit, Not Glamour celebrates the contributions of our foremothers who devoted their lives to farming and ranching related pursuits. Some embraced their roles; others detested the life; often their contributions were minimized or overlooked.
The story of The Compton Cowboys, a group of African-American men and women who defy stereotypes and continue the proud, centuries-old tradition of black cowboys in the heart of one of America's most notorious cities. A story about trauma and transformation, race and identity, compassion, and ultimately, belonging.
An uproariously surreal take on the classic Western. In this wild west frontier town, nothing is quite what it seems. Painted ladies soar through the sky, townsfolk flicker and fade, and gender seems as fluid as oozing ink. At the heart of this surreal tale, a restless woman longs to break free from her confinement and ride off into the sunset. Both an homage to the classic Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone and a fiercely feminist send-up of gruff masculinity, Cowboy is a Western unlike any other.
Traces the role of three Hawaiian cowboys who became champions at the 1908 Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo, detailing how their careers influenced post-annexation Hawaiian identity, island ranching, and the rodeo culture of Cheyenne.
Acclaimed scholar, singer, banjoist, and fiddler Jake Blount’s new album, The New Faith, is an Afrofuturistic concept album. He is touring the album with appearances at Bristol Rhythm & Roots Festival, AmericanaFest, and Bourbon and Bluegrass Festival.
Kane Brown is unquestionably one of the biggest stars in country music and earned his fame by blending country tradition with the fluid genre-bending of the streaming age. It's often easy to hear Brown's country roots. He sings with a pronounced twang, he tips his hat to Alan Jackson…and he sings about love, alcohol, home, and family in equal measure.
Troy Lee Coleman III (AKA Cowboy Troy) has been fusing country twang with rock music energy and hip-hop lyric schemes since 2001. This black Texan was one of the original members of Big & Rich's "MuzikMafia."
On this album, African American/Mexican folk musician, Dom Flemons, “pays tribute to the music, culture, and the complex history of the golden era of the Wild West. Flemons explores and re-analyzes this important part of our American identity. The songs and poems featured on the album take the listener on an illuminating journey from the trails to the rails of the Old West. This century-old story follows the footsteps of the thousands of African American pioneers who helped build the United States of America.”
Combining the lulling ambience of shoegaze with the iconic melodies and vocal prowess of classic American country music, enigmatic outlaw cowboy. Orville Peck, croons love and loss from the badlands of North America. His debut album, delivers a diverse collection of stories that sing of heartbreak, revenge and the unrelenting tug of the cowboy ethos.
Japanese American musician Mitski says of the title, "There was this artist I really loved who used to have such a cowboy swagger. When I look back, I wonder, did I want them or did I want to be them?” Be the Cowboy explores this mythos.
In 2009, Darius Rucker "became the first black American to win the New Artist Award from the Country Music Association, and the second black person to win any award from the association.” #1's compiles the ten #1 Country Songs he has released from his five solo albums for Capitol Records Nashville.
Folk/roots/country supergroup featuring Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, Allison Russell, and Amythyst Kiah perform on this “Smithsonian Folkways-issued debut album...Songs of Our Native Daughters is a bold, brutal, and often beautiful dissertation on racism, hope, misogyny, agency, and slavery told from the perspective of four of modern roots music's most talented women, who also happen to be black.”
The banjo, generally associated with country, folk, and bluegrass music, "originated in Africa, and made its way to America with the African slaves who were brought to the fledgling colonies as early as the 1700s. This release attempts to "recapture the banjo" as an integral part of the African American musical tradition.
Soundtrack to the Ken Burn’s documentary, featuring songs by musicians of color such as, Deford Bailey, Ray Charles, and Charley Pride.
The soundtrack for "The Harder They Fall" on Netflix, a movie featuring many historical Black figures from the Wild West.