That Day: Laura Wilson

A black-and-white photograph of six cowboys walking in a field toward the viewer with their faces in shadow from their cowboy hats.
September 5, 2015–February 14, 2016
First floor

This exhibition of 72 photographs introduces the full range of Wilson’s photography across the West, deeply rooted in the traditions of cowboys and ranching and the region’s open space, aridity, and hardscrabble self-reliance. Although the cowboy-rancher may set the foundation for Wilson’s vision, her photographs celebrate the rich diversity of characters across the West, including artists, Native Americans, and others who by choice or circumstance don’t fit into either the suburban or urban mainstream.

Rather than judge the diversity of the western characters that fill this world, Wilson asks us to reflect on their exhaustion, joy, and pain. Here we discover a consistent striving to find satisfaction and balance, delivered with the vivid spontaneity that only photography can provide. Framed equally by beauty and violence, the works reflect the artist’s challenge to the image of an homogenized America.

Installation Photos

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That Day: Laura Wilson is organized by the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. It is supported in part by generous contributions from the Alturas Foundation, Mollie and Garland Lasater Charitable Fund of the Community Foundation of North Texas, Ruth Mutch, Salle Stemmons, and Worthington National Bank.