The Amon Carter Museum of American Art is no stranger to Western art, but its new exhibition, which opens Sept. 28, pushes against the stereotypes and mythology frequently associated with cowboy culture.

“Cowboy” features 60 works from more than 25 artists who explore themes of race, religion, gender and sexuality.

“If we think about who was and is responsible for cattle-related labor in the American West, it’s easy to fall into the trap promoted by pulp fiction, dime novels, Hollywood and many other cultural producers that everyone looked like the Marlboro Man or a figure in a Remington painting,” Andrew Eschelbacher, director of collections and exhibitions for the museum, said in a statement.

As an epicenter for ranching, he continued, it is important that Fort Worth helps expand the narrative of cowboy culture.

“Through the work of leading modern and contemporary artists, the picture of who a cowboy was and is — Black, Asian American, LGBTQIA+, Native, a woman, or so much more — expands to be something much more reflective of historical and present-day reality,” Eschelbacher said.

The exhibition features several standout works.

Kenneth Tam’s video “Silent Spikes” references the labor of Asian migrants in helping build the transcontinental railroad through performances and interviews with Asian men who discuss labor and masculinity.

In John Baldessari’s “The Space Between Hat, Rock and Shadow,” the conceptual artist uses subtraction to play with the idea of how many characteristics one can remove from an image and still represent a cowboy.

The museum also showcases multiple newly commissioned works, including a collaboration between mixed media artist rafa esparza and photographer Fabian Guerro. The duo created a multisensory experience to celebrate Norteño music from Northern Mexico and queer culture.

Footprints from boots on the adobe floor are spread across the installation to trace the route of two men dancing together, a theme which is repeated in other media, including a painting and video.

The exhibition was curated by the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, and Fort Worth is the second stop on the roving exhibition’s national tour.

The exhibition will run through March 23, 2025. 

“The history of art in general, for a very long time, has focused on these types of representations of the American West,” María Beatriz H. Carrión, assistant curator of photography at the Carter, said in reference to classic Western art during a media preview for the exhibition. “And maybe it’s time to push (back on) that a little bit.”

Marcheta Fornoff covers arts and culture for the Fort Worth Report. Reach her at marcheta.fornoff@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.