Existing comment:
Luis Jiménez
born El Paso, Texas 1940;
died Hondo, New Mexico 2006
Howl
1977
lithograph on paper
The howling coyote is an animal deeply embedded in the ancient and contemporary culture of the Southwest. The coyote is a trickster figure for several American Indian tribes and was a symbol of wisdom and military might in Pre-Columbian Mexico. The term "coyote" is also a colloquial expression for a smuggler that moves people across borders. Jiménez, who was born and raised in the border town of El Paso, Texas, often depicted animals who were native to the Southwest as a sign of the common culture of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. The howling animal also suggests a defiant Chicano claim to that geography.
Gift of the artist, 1978.91 |