TWISTED SPURS: The Wilderness Inside

A juried exhibition
by Angel Quesada

The exhibition Twisted Spurs presents innovative and satiric works of art that take an unexpected approach to traditional Western imagery. In the early part of the 20th century, the American cowboy was idealized as a courageous hero fighting evil by establishing order and justice, frequently through violent, redeeming acts. Since the 1960s, however, the cowboy has lost his idyllic qualities – no longer seen as a heroic crusader, but as a cold-blooded renegade seeking to stamp out whoever stood in the way of his self-proclaimed principles with no regard to the law.

The contemporary cowboy is no longer simply motivated by the external challenges of the rugged frontier, but is driven instead by an internal wilderness – a rough childhood, troubled relationships, and poisonous memories. In a modern America of chaos and isolation spurred on by technology, everyone is a cowboy, and each of the artists in Twisted Spurs has his or her own notion of how to represent this wilderness. These artists present contemporary socio-political issues woven with traditional images of the wild west. As pioneers lost in a contemporary wilderness, these artists twist the dreams of our American forefathers.