Coyote Woman in the City
Harry Fonseca, Maidu / American, 1946 - 2006
Maidu
California culture
1979
Acrylic, glitter, sequins and foil on canvas
Overall: 30 × 24 in. (76.2 × 61 cm)
Frame: 31 × 25 in. (78.7 × 63.5 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of the Class of 1962
P.989.10
Geography
Place Made: Greenville, United States, North America
Period
20th century
Object Name
Painting
Research Area
Native American
Painting
Native American: California Culture
Not on view
Inscriptions
Signed and dated, lower right: Fonseca/1979; inscribed, in felt tip pen, on stretcher reverse: COYOTE #35 C [copyright] Fonseca 78/"COYOTE WOMAN [sic]
Label
Harry Fonseca’s Coyote Woman in the City offers himself and an appreciative Native audience the option of identifying with Rose the Coyote. No one’s princess, she is the very modern hip, brassy, singing, dancing trickster star of her own show. In order to make a myth live, or to use that myth, it’s got to change. . . . I think that Rose has really helped to do that by opening up a whole new area of gender, where women on the "res" really identify with this husky figure. There’s a myth there, but she certainly isn’t the Virgin Mary. —Harry Fonseca From the 2019 exhibition Portrait of the Artist as an Indian / Portrait of the Indian as an Artist, guest curated by Rayna Green Coyote, a prominent figure in many Native North American legends, stars in many of Harry Fonseca’s paintings. A clever trickster and transformer, Coyote is known for breaking rules and disrupting conventions—much like Fonseca himself, who enjoyed experimenting with new styles. Incorporating bold brushstrokes, flashy colors, and glittery materials, Fonseca’s visually stunning cityscape features one of Coyote’s alter egos, "Rose." Resituating the protagonist in a modern context, Fonseca challenges long-standing stereotypes surrounding Native Americans and gender expression more broadly. By asserting Indigenous people as active participants in mainstream life and culture, Fonseca’s work not only resists the trope of "the vanishing race" but celebrates creativity and complexity. Coyote also functions as a stand-in for the artist himself, reflecting Fonseca’s experiences as both a gay and Indigenous artist. Blending traditional figures with contemporary imagery in playful ways, Fonseca defies expectations and reshapes ideas about what constitutes "Native American art" and personhood. From the 2022 exhibition A Space for Dialogue 107, Coloring the Western Canon, curated by Chloe Jung '23, Class of 1954 Intern
Course History
WRIT 5, Expository Writing, William Nichols, Winter 2012
ANTH 3, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Sienna Craig, Summer 2013
ARTH 71, The "American Century": Modern Art in the United States, Mary Coffey, Winter 2015
ARTH 71, The "American Century": Modern Art in the United States. Mary Coffey, Winter 2015
Exhibition History
A Space for Dialogue 107, Coloring the Western Canon, Chloe Jung, June 25 - August 21, 2022, Alvin P. Gutman Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire.
Harry Fonseca, Los Llanos Gallery, Santa Fe, 1981.
Lobby, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 26-April 8, 1990.
Modern and Contemporary Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 26,2009-March 15, 2010.
Native American Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, October 8, 2011-March 12, 2012.
No Laughing Matter: Visual Humor in Ideas of Race, Nationality, and Ethnicity, Harrington Gallery Teaching Exhibition, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, in conjunction with the Humanities Institute, Leslie Center for the Humanities, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, October 6-December 9, 2007.
Portrait of the Artist as an Indian / Portrait of the Indian as an Artist, Harteveldt Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 26, 2019-February 23, 2020.
Survival/Art/History: American Indian Collections from the Hood Museum of Art, Alvin P. Gutman Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, November 18, 2000-April 7, 2002.
Publication History
Brian P. Kennedy and Emily Shubert Burke, Modern and Contemporary Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art, Hanover: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 2009 p.69, no.45.
Angela Rosenthal and David Bindman, No Laughing Matter: Visual Humor in Ideas of Race, Nationality, and Ethnicity, Hanover, New Hampshire: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 2003,p.607, ill. 9.3
Colin G. Calloway, First Peoples: A Documentary Survey of American Indian History, Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012, p. 607, ill.9.3
Provenance
Los Llanos Gallery; sold to anonymous donor, 1981; given to present collection, 1989.
This record is part of an active database that includes information from historic documentation that may not have been recently reviewed. Information may be inaccurate or incomplete. We also acknowledge some language and imagery may be offensive, violent, or discriminatory. These records reflect the institution’s history or the views of artists or scholars, past and present. Our collections research is ongoing.
We welcome questions, feedback, and suggestions for improvement. Please contact us at: Hood.Collections@dartmouth.edu