Viewing Room | Peter Saul. Abstract Expressionist Cowboy, 2015

‘There was a time when people were only interested in the visual appearance of the over-all picture and unable to reflect on the "meaning" of the figurative elements.

I got people to interpret my figures only thru dealing with topical subjects, and then mainly complaints like "how the hell am I supposed to appreciate your technique if you keep painting these exciting scenes that are hard to ignore".’

– Peter Saul

Abstract Expressionist Cowboy, 2015 by Peter Saul, detail © Gary Tatintsian Gallery and the artist

Recalling so many of the US fabled values, the cowboy is legendary for his hard work, a pioneering spirit, and a unity with nature. Peter Saul utilizes this celebrated figure of exaggerated masculinity as grounds for deconstructing society's own ingrained preconceptions. In the process, he reveals the extent to which our thoughts and choices are determined by a pre-prescribed set of visual codes, desires, fears, gender and cultural stereotypes.

Unlike the many iterations of the cowboy image in the works by Richard Prince, Thomas Hart Benton or Charles Marion Russell, who often depict them riding their horses against beautiful sunsets or sharing cigarettes in an accommodating landscape, cowboy in Saul's work finds himself in a vortex of abstraction.