Childhood Cowboys

2022, wood, enamel, LCD screen, video and antique child’s wagon, 60 X 60 X 30 in.

A mixed-media installation titled “Childhood Cowboys” by Keith Francis (2022). The piece stands 5 feet tall and is set against a neutral gallery wall on a light wood floor. The Wagon: The base is an original antique Radio Flyer metal wagon with a rusted red finish and white-walled wheels. The black handle is angled toward the floor. The Pallet and Painting: Standing vertically inside the wagon is a large, weathered wooden pallet made of horizontal slats. Painted onto the center of the wood is a high-contrast black-and-white stencil of a young boy. He is dressed in a 1950s-era cowboy costume—including a fringed western shirt and holster—and is depicted in profile, pointing a toy handgun. The Digital Element: Bolted to the wood slats at the top of the boy's neck is a square LCD monitor. The screen completely replaces the boy’s head and face, displaying a bright, intricate, neon-blue and violet kaleidoscope pattern that radiates from a central point. The juxtaposition of the nostalgic childhood toy and the rough industrial pallet with the digital screen serves as a commentary on how media-driven narratives of "good vs. evil" and gun culture are subliminally assimilated by children.
A mixed-media installation titled “Childhood Cowboys” by Keith Francis (2022). The piece stands 5 feet tall and is set against a neutral gallery wall on a light wood floor. The Wagon: The base is an original antique Radio Flyer metal wagon with a rusted red finish and white-walled wheels. The black handle is angled toward the floor. The Pallet and Painting: Standing vertically inside the wagon is a large, weathered wooden pallet made of horizontal slats. Painted onto the center of the wood is a high-contrast black-and-white stencil of a young boy. He is dressed in a 1950s-era cowboy costume—including a fringed western shirt and holster—and is depicted in profile, pointing a toy handgun. The Digital Element: Bolted to the wood slats at the top of the boy's neck is a square LCD monitor. The screen completely replaces the boy’s head and face, displaying a bright, intricate, neon-blue and violet kaleidoscope pattern that radiates from a central point. The juxtaposition of the nostalgic childhood toy and the rough industrial pallet with the digital screen serves as a commentary on how media-driven narratives of "good vs. evil" and gun culture are subliminally assimilated by children.
A mixed-media installation titled “Childhood Cowboys” by Keith Francis (2022). The piece stands 5 feet tall and is set against a neutral gallery wall on a light wood floor. The Wagon: The base is an original antique Radio Flyer metal wagon with a rusted red finish and white-walled wheels. The black handle is angled toward the floor. The Pallet and Painting: Standing vertically inside the wagon is a large, weathered wooden pallet made of horizontal slats. Painted onto the center of the wood is a high-contrast black-and-white stencil of a young boy. He is dressed in a 1950s-era cowboy costume—including a fringed western shirt and holster—and is depicted in profile, pointing a toy handgun. The Digital Element: Bolted to the wood slats at the top of the boy's neck is a square LCD monitor. The screen completely replaces the boy’s head and face, displaying a bright, intricate, neon-blue and violet kaleidoscope pattern that radiates from a central point. The juxtaposition of the nostalgic childhood toy and the rough industrial pallet with the digital screen serves as a commentary on how media-driven narratives of "good vs. evil" and gun culture are subliminally assimilated by children.

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