A painted self-portrait shows a figure wearing aviator sunglasses and sporting a red bandanna around his neck, seated in front of a large window looking out upon a stylized landscape of gold and purple hills, reminiscent of northern New Mexico. An African mask and a classic painting appear in the background, testament to the diverse sources from which the artist, T.C. Cannon, drew inspiration.
Of God and Mortal Men celebrates the work of Cannon (1946-1978), an artist of Kiowa and Caddo descent whose vibrant paintings blend traditional Native American and contemporary Southwestern imagery. Essays on his life and work accompany sketches, poems and color plates of his paintings. Cannon’s art “asserts itself within the geography of the Southwest,” writes museum curator Gilbert Vicario, “but more importantly, it offers a complex and nuanced definition of what it means to be an American artist in the twentieth century.”
Of God and Mortal Men: T.C. Cannon
Edited by Ann E. Marshall & Diana F. Pardue.
136 pages, hardcover: $39.95. Museum of New Mexico Press, 2017.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Of God and mortal men: T.C. Cannon.
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