Size 21 inch x 16 inch (51cm x 41cm)
Wednesday, 17 February 2021
A sombrero and a huge moustache. I don’t believe my mental image of a cowboy comes from any authentic sources. It is because I really don’t watch movies in the western genre, no offense to any enthusiasts. I could solely link the famous phrase, ‘Shane, come back!’ and Charles Bronson’s after shave ‘Mandom’ adverb produced in Japan as my limited reference of western movies. That was about it. Nevertheless I wanted to create a cowboy sheriff who has time travelled into an urban city and found himself navigating a traffic middle of the street. Followed by his trusted companion – now it looks more like a huge wooden rocking horse -who has completely disregarded where he was and could not contain his joy of reuniting with his master.
One of my friends, who has a high opinion of Western movies, spoke passionately about how Italians hijacked the very genre. The term ‘Spaghetti Western’ (or known as ‘macaroni western’ in Japan) was initially used in a derogatory manner to show disapprovals toward Italian productions. In time, though, they well earned the recognition in the field, starring acclaimed Hollywood actors such as Clint Eastwood, Henry Fonda and Charles Bronson. When I finally watched a trailer of ‘the Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ (1966), I realised the caricature of my cowboy did come from villain types, not heroes. Either way, it was very delightful to be educated about the Italo-western relationship indeed.
