Nancy Newberry: Extraños Magníficos

Artist Statement

Extraños Magníficos is a contemporary Spaghetti Western, staged at the Texas-Mexico border investigating nationalism and community. Influenced by my Mother’s Italian heritage and my Texas upbringing, the series draws inspiration from classic Spaghetti Western movies, the 1960’s subgenre of Italian Western films made famous by director Sergio Leone. I have long been interested in the American archetype, the Wild West and how its iconic self-image is re-interpreted in the US and by other cultures. Simply telling people I am from Texas begins a discourse laced with stereotypes made famous by the genre.

Spaghetti Westerns famously appropriated, reinterpreted and questioned its own and Western mythologies.  Reflecting cultural and political conditions of post war Europe, the genre developed into a repository for issues concerning National Identity on both sides of the Atlantic. I am intrigued by the present-day use of ‘the Wild West’ to either approve of or to disparage the new frontier, and I am curious in what it could say about the current state of the American myth.

With an emphasis on costume and uniform, I am interested in the role fantasy plays in historical identity formation, and how myths inform cultures throughout the world. This project integrates my ongoing fascination with regalia and continues my exploration of self-representation and cultural identity at large.

In Extraños Magníficos, Mexican charros, American cowboys and military soldiers become suspended in a playful sense of preparedness at the Texas-Mexico Border. A territory of blended nationalities, legendary historical battles, contested land, and a very famous wall. This is the true Wild West.

Biography

Nancy Newberry is an artist whose 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).  

Ms. 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, Photo News, 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 U.S., Europe, and China.

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