“The image of cowboy is so familiar in American iconology that it has to become almost invisible through its normality. And yet the cowboy is also the most sacred and masklike of cultural figures. In both a geographical and cultural sense, a cowboy is an image of endurance itself, a stereotypical symbol of American cinema.”
U ntitled (Cowboy with Steer) from 2000 belongs to Richard Prince’s most iconic and emblematic body of work, the Cowboy series. A highly recognizable motif, associated with ideas of American exceptionalism, the cowboy first seduced Prince as an image through Marlboro cigarette advertisements that used the figure of the cowboy as an effective marketing tool. Beginning in the 1970s, Prince sought to deconstruct the semiotic mechanisms upon which the image was constructed and, in doing so, created one of the most enduring bodies of work of the Contemporary era. For Prince, the cowboy serves as a formal device used to explore the ultimate example of an industry fabricated vision of American masculinity. Exceptionally dazzling and romantic, the present work showcases a cowboy on horseback encountering a small steer, amongst a snow covered, enchanted forest. The composition is visually enticing, as the winter scene of dense trees is elongated by the horizontal nature of the image itself. Against a backdrop of shimmering and pristine white snow, marvelously contrasted by the dark brown of the trees, the cowboy trots towards the steer, revealing a composition that is reminiscent of a sharp, cinematic relief. A study into the American collective memory and universally accepted mythologies, the present work invites the viewer to experience nostalgia of the american cowboy.
Untitled (Cowboy): Behind Richard Prince's Photographs & Appropriation | 100 Photos | TIME
