Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West recently announced the upcoming opening of Vaqueros de la Cruz del Diablo/Cowboys from the Cross of the Devil, the captivating photographic exhibition by Werner Segarra, set to open to the public on June 20, 2023, and run through February 2024.
Cowboys from the Cross of the Devil features 57 images that transport viewers into the hidden world of the vaquero/cowboy from the rough terrain of the Sonoran region of northern Mexico. Segarra's collection of photographs, captured over 30 years, reveals the vaqueros on their own terms, as the artist comes to integrate into and identify with the community he documents. Through portraits of place, work, and community, Segarra brings the emblematic figure of the desert frontier to vivid life, showcasing their otherworldly high Sierra Mountain home, their attire, and their way of life.
In Cowboys from the Cross of the Devil, Segarra chronicles a culture influenced by modernity and globalization, where the horse has been replaced by an ATV, the sombrero for a baseball cap, the handmade tehua for sneakers, and the radio for a smartphone. The photographs are a one-of-a-kind repository, the last recordings of a timeworn way of life that will soon remain only in the fading memories of those who once lived it.
Western Spirit Scottsdale’s Museum of the West's Assistant Director - Collections, Exhibitions, and Research, Tricia Loscher, commented on the exhibition, saying, “While the title, Cowboys from the Cross of the Devil, may be startling at first to the ear, the photography reveals a breathtaking beauty in the rough terrain. This is a must-see exhibition that offers a glimpse into a world that is rapidly disappearing, and it promises to be a fascinating experience for all who attend."
The exhibition reveals photography featuring soaring mountains, plunging cliffs, expansive skies, and under them, the vaquero, day after tireless day at work among his herds. Segarra's remarkable panoramas are captured without any technological gimmicks, relying on natural photographic techniques and patience, and adding the human factor: a subject captured just so against the vastness of a landscape.
SRP has provided a generous contribution to sponsor the 2023 Vaqueros de la Cruz del Diablo/Cowboys from the Cross of the Devil exhibition by Werner Segarra.
For more information on Vaqueros de la Cruz del Diablo/Cowboys from the Cross of the Devil, please visit https://scottsdalemuseumwest.org/project/werner-segarra/.
Western Spirit features regularly changing and permanent exhibits of Western and Native American art and artifacts, entertaining events, and informative programs that bring the West’s heritage, culture, and community to life. Featuring The Gather: A Portrait of the American West by Scott T. Baxter; Cowboys from the Cross of the Devil/Vaqueros de La Cruz del Diablo, Werner Segarra; and The Railroad Opening Up the West, a model train exhibition.
Permanent exhibitions continually on display include Canvas of Clay: Hopi Pottery Masterworks from The Allan and Judith Cooke Collection, which features 65 of the finest examples of Hopi pottery spanning six centuries, the Frankie and Howard Alper Collection of John Coleman Bronzes; and The Abe Hays Family Spirit of the West Collection, a showcase of more than 1,400 saddles, spurs, cowboy gear and other Old West objects.
For more information on Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West, visit Scottsdalemuseumwest.org.