The iconic Western cowboy actually can trace its roots to north and west Africa, up through Spain and then over to the New World. Caballeros y Vaqueros will tell this story using the decorative traditions of New World husbandry as they developed in New Spain and Colonial Mexico from a fusion of Native American, European, African and Islamic traditions. This magnificent exhibition will focus on working objects as sculptural art, allowing visitors to see and learn how global traditions manifested into a unique Western visual tradition.
The decorative traditions of cow- and horse-gear provide some of the most enduring motifs and icons of Western culture. Caballeros y Vaqueros traces these decorative traditions as they developed in Colonial Mexico from a fusion of Native American, European, African and Islamic traditions.
