05/29/2026
'Playing Cowboy' shows a portrait of a young boy sporting plaid print, denim jeans, a black cowboy hat, and a toy pistol—traditional markers of rugged Western masculinity, here engaged as play material. What at first appears straightforward comes to unveil layers of unresolved tension and complexity.
The boy’s expression resists easy interpretation—Is it pride, irony, innocence, bravado?
The flag looms as both backdrop and symbol, its presence amplifying the theatricality of the boy’s pose.
The boy’s rightward lean is accentuated by both the sloping hills behind him and the angled flag in the wind. It is here when one realizes that nothing in the composition rests on level ground.
With regards to the values of nationalism, Brent Godfrey does not explicitly mock nor endorse.
Instead, he presents the fragile moments when identities first get performed: when costume, gesture, and inherited symbols are presented to our young selves as identity building blocks—materials we must come to learn to adopt, or reject, and ultimately accept the consequences of doing so.
TOMORROW is the final day to see Brent Godfrey's solo painting exhibition IDENTITIES before it closes. The gallery is open Mon-Sat, 10-5pm.
Featured Artwork:
Brent Godfrey, Playing Cowboy, oil on canvas, 36x48 in.
