Outriders: Legacy of the Black Cowboy is an exercise in unearthing images of the drivers, fiddlers, cowpunchers, cattle rustlers, cooks, singers, bulldoggers, and broncobusters with African heritage. This exhibition balances historical narratives and archival photographs depicting life and work of the cattle drivers from the years immediately before the Civil War through the turn of the twentieth century, with contemporary responses from artists demonstrating Black individuals’ embodiment of the cowboy icon. Outriders broadens our conception of what makes an American symbol and legacy, questioning a story that is deeply ingrained in our popular culture.
Exhibitions Committee: Nikesha Breeze, Artist; Larry Callies, Founder, Black Cowboy Museum; Rita Powdrell, Director, African American Museum and Cultural Center of New Mexico; Daphne Rice-Allen, Board Chair, Black American West Museum & Heritage Center; Nicole Dial-Kay, Curator of Exhibitions + Collections, Harwood Museum of Art; Ari Myers, Owner + Curator, The Valley; Emily Santhanam, Curatorial Assistant, Harwood Museum of Art.
Kennedi Carter, GROOMING, 2020, archival pigment print, 20 x 30 in. Courtesy of Kennedi Carter and ROSEGALLERY.
Black cowboy and horse, c. 1890-1920, photographic print. Denver Public Library Special Collections, X-21563
Banner Image: Ivan B. McClellan, Kortnee Solomon, Hempstead, Texas, n.d., photographic print, 38 x 29 in. Courtesy of Ivan B. McClellan.
Exhibition Events
This exhibition is made possible in part by Montaner Charitable Trust; Rosamaria Ellis Clark Estate; Harwood Museum Alliance; New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and by the National Endowment for the Arts; Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, California; Various Small Fires; Kasmin Gallery; ROSEGALLERY; Monique Meloche Gallery; Spaghetti Western; Private Collection, LA.
