Skip to main content
Coyote Tales No. 1 (from the series Coyote Tales)
Coyote Tales No. 1 (from the series Coyote Tales)
Coyote Tales No. 1 (from the series Coyote Tales)

Coyote Tales No. 1 (from the series Coyote Tales)

Artist (American, Chemahuevi, born 1977)
Date2017 (printed 2018)
Mediumpigment print
DimensionsImage: 35 × 35 in. (88.9 × 88.9 cm)
Support: 41 1/8 × 41 1/8 in. (104.5 × 104.5 cm)
Mat: 42 × 42 1/8 in. (106.7 × 107 cm)
ClassificationsPhotograph
Credit LineGift of Loren G. Lipson, M.D., 2018
Object number2018.10
DescriptionThree young people standing near a white car outside a building that bears a neon sign reading “SAINTS AND SINNERS” and one reading “CERVEZA SOL.” The woman at far left wears two long braids, chandelier earrings, and a dark coat with a black-and-white patterned dress underneath; she leans against the front of the car with her right hand in her coat pocket and her ankles crossed. The center figure is wearing jeans, black converse sneakers and a plaid jacket in addition to a coyote tail and a bowler hat with coyote ears; he is holding a bunch of red flowers behind his back. The figure at right is wearing jeans, suede boots with silver decorations and a stylish, highly adorned waist-length jacket; she wears necklaces and her hair is piled on top her head. Female figures at left and right look obliquely at viewer.
Text Entries
The photograph was made in Espanola, New Mexico. “Saints and Sinners” is a liquor store located at 503 S. Riverside Dr., Española, NM 87532. The artist writes that the idea for the picture “came from the crossover lowrider subculture that transcends the geography of both the Santa Fe area to Phoenix all the way over to SoCal, as well as transcends the culture of both Chicano and Natives. I am beginning to show how these subcultures look from a Native lens. I used Coyote in the photograph to represent the beloved trickster, our naughty Coyote character from our stories who is always making questionable choices and often mistakes, but we love him nonetheless. We often learn from him and his mistakes. By having Coyote in this photo we can both celebrate the subculture while acknowledging our human nature to choose naughty over nice (without judgment). Everyone in the photo is meant to evoke omniscience. We are all Saints and Sinners.” In a conversation with Katherine Ware about this piece, the artist says that the image is meant to be lighthearted and about being less judgmental about the decisions you make in life. She notes that the women in the picture are “going into it with eyes open.”
On View
Not on view
Kathy - Santa Fe
Bernard Plossu
1981
Pie Town, NM
Russell Lee
1940
Allessandro, Rome
Marsha Burns
1987
Visitor To Taos Fiesta, Taos, New Mexico
Russell Lee
July 1940 (printed 1990)
Casta 5
Delilah Montoya
Conceived 2018, constructed 2020
Coyote Tied to Fence
Jerry R. West
1990
Penasco, NM
Russell Lee
1940