Nancy Newberry: Smoke Bombs and Border Crossings

The Spaghetti Western genre, made popular in the 1960s by Italian director Sergio Leone and the iconic soundtrack of composer Ennio Morricone, notably diverged from traditional Western films by reinterpreting and questioning its own archetypes and mythologies. This critical lens led to the rise of the anti-hero, a complex protagonist who can neither be considered fully good nor evil, in direct contrast with the very literal black hat vs. white hat, good vs. evil trope popularized in previous Western narratives. In this new understanding of the world, informed by post-war conditions in Europe, heroes are often fallible and villains are sometimes redeemable. The earlier black-and-white approach simplified complex historical narratives into neatly packaged parables, and these narratives steadily worked their way into the popular conception of the real history of the West.

Newberry presents three archetypal characters in Smoke Bombs and Border Crossings: the cowboy, the charro, and the soldier, expressed through costume and uniform. Newberry’s photography has long centered around the role costume plays in defining identity. In this series, Newberry meticulously selected pieces from her extensive collection of wardrobe. Hats create sharp shadows covering the eyes of the subjects, and ornately embroidered western shirts are accented against softly colored backdrops. These character studies are reminiscent of a less gritty Spaghetti Western, in the moments during a standoff where tension builds as the film focuses tightly on the gunslingers’ faces. The charros and escaramuza charras in the series wear their own traditional regalia. Charros are Mexican horse riders who participate in charrería, the national sport of Mexico, a longstanding cultural tradition similar in format to the rodeo. Escaramuza charras are female riders who compete specifically in synchronized maneuvers on horseback. The military archetype is expressed in the series through characters outfitted in vintage marching band uniforms. Marching bands, having originated as military bands marching alongside foot soldiers, retain details on the uniforms which reference that past (epaulettes, plumes, etc.) and call into play ideas surrounding group identity and loyalty. 

A brand new addition to this series are a set of flags, imagined and created by Newberry, featuring ornate belt buckles at the center of each one. Referencing the six flags that have flown over the geographic area of Texas, the images call into discussion very directly the role of symbolic imagery in the creation of national identity and in displays of power. The buckles feature ornately carved scenes of cowboys and rodeo events, and act themselves as myth-carrying devices. The flags are also seen in some of the marching band / military images, appropriately underscoring the association between military force / occupation and nationalism. The title of the series invokes the concept of the border, a construct which shifts with time and action, diplomacy and bloodshed. The land itself does not shift, and neither do the occupants of that land, even when border lines are drawn and redrawn.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Nancy Newberry is an artist based in Dallas and Marfa, Texas. Her performative portraiture investigates individuation, specifically focusing on cultural and social systems of belonging. Her work is deeply personal, exploring narratives of identity, myth, and memory as the foundation of her practice.

She has received many honors and awards from both publications and institutions. Most recently she has received The Nasher Sculpture Center Artist Grant (2020); The British Journal of Photography Female in Focus Award (2019); The Griffin Museum of Photography, Richards’ Family Trust Award (2018); Grand Prix Finalist, The International Festival of Photography, Hyeres, France; Descubrimientos PhotoEspaña Prize, Madrid; Kolga Photo Award, Tbilisi, Georgia; PhotoVisa Award, Krasnodar, Russia; FotoFest Discoveries of the Meeting Place, Houston; and The Taylor Wessing Portrait Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London (2012, 2017).

Newberry has been profiled and published widely including in The Guardian, British Journal of Photography, New York Times, M Le magazine du Monde, i-D, PDN, and American Photo amongst others. Her work resides in major public and private collections, including The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Centro de Arte Alcobendas, Spain; City of Houston, Houston Airports; and Villa Noailles, Hyères, France. Her work has been exhibited throughout the US, Europe and China.