Coyote Tied to Fence

"Coyote Tied to Fence" depicts a fading tradition among ranchers, hanging killed coyotes from the fence posts that surround their property. The folk theory being that it keeps other coyotes from entering the property. These dangling carcasses are also said to be a sign to warn others that there is a predator present.  A more practical explanation is that bounty hunters displayed their prey to assure landowners that they had killed what they were paid to.  The coyote in this Jerry West's painting could be any of those things but it is also, like all of West's work, about so much more.  We must think of this coyote like all subject matter in West's paintings as something that springs from the subconscious to deliver a message or make a point.  The coyote is a part of the mythology of many cultures around the globe, in indigenous cultures in North America the coyote is a powerful mythological figure, often a trickster and anthropomorphized. In the borderlands of the Americas the coyote is also the human smuggler who brings you over the border.

The coyote and the crow, both of which figure significantly in Jerry West's paintings, are called out by anthropologist Claude-Levi Strauss as cross cultural mediators between life and death.  The brutal work of ranch life involves a tangible and daily connection to deaths of both predator and prey.  This connection between predator animals and ranchers still weighs heavily in rural New Mexico and Southern Texas.  It is a contentious subject that divides environmentalists and those who make their livelihood by raising livestock.  This coyote is a metaphor for the disappearance of tradition, particularly rural tradition, and the priority of progress over the environment.  This work is painted West's magical realist style - and while realist is not realistic or bloody. The coyote appears almost peaceful and the palette is appealing that of a dawn or dusk landscape.  This work was not made to induce an autonomic response but rather to arouse some contemplation.