American Artist is currently participating in YOꓭWOƆ, a group show by Helmut Lang in collaboration with Antwaun Sargent. In 2004 Helmut Lang printed the word COWBOY in reverse on the inside of a classic white cotton t-shirt. This seemingly innocuous t-shirt took on loaded issues of identity and myth and serves as inspiration for this exhibition that considers the historical and contemporary significance of the cowboy as a cultural icon.

“Barbed wire fences appeared in the US in the 1860s. Cowboys had a number of jobs at this point in time, but their primary purpose was to tend to cattle. (…) soon barbed wire became just as popular as it was in the north. Barbed wire did most of the cowboy’s job and with the low profits being made of cattle, the position on the ranch was no longer needed and could no longer be afforded. It is ironic that barbed wire is so often associated with cowboy culture because it was so closely intertwined with their end” – American Artist


Read New York Time's article: "The Art World Refashions the Cowboy" by Ruth La Ferla.