Mystery Valley, Arizona
Artist
Joan Myers
(American, born 1944)
Artist
Wendy Young
(American, born 1963)
Date2013
Mediumpigment print
DimensionsImage: 14 1/2 × 22 in. (36.8 × 55.9 cm)
Support: 17 1/8 × 24 in. (43.5 × 61 cm)
Support: 17 1/8 × 24 in. (43.5 × 61 cm)
ClassificationsPhotograph
Credit LineGift of Joan Myers, 2017
Object number2017.5.29
DescriptionRocky cliff face fills the backgrounds entirety. A livestock fence traces the bottom edge of print and a child swings on a rope attached to a tree in the bottom right corner.eMuseum Notes
Acutely aware of the iconography and symbols
used to romanticize life in the West, Myers photographs the intersecting spaces
where contemporary Western life, often raw and complex, overlaps with myth. The
artist contrasts imagery of the natural world with the man-made, often using
highly saturated color to emphasize the commercialization and commodification
of the West. In other images, she shoots in black-and-white, channeling old
movies and a patina of nostalgia. The resulting images constitute a rich visual
tapestry that weaves together American mythology of the West with its many
histories and present-day practices.
The photograph was taken in Mystery Valley in Arizona.
Mystery Valley is located in northern Arizona near the Utah border with views of Monument Valley. The site includes ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings and is accessible only with a guide.
On View
Not on viewTerms
Joan Myers
2001 (printed 2017)
Joan Myers
1984 (printed 1988)