1. High Noon for Hoot Gibson 1968

Editor: Warrington Colescott's *High Noon for Hoot Gibson* is a striking print. The multiple arms of the cowboy figure immediately catch my eye – almost like a deity. What symbols do you see at play here? Curator: Indeed. The figure echoes multi-armed deities, suggesting power and omnipresence. But consider the title; Gibson was a cowboy actor. Colescott uses that symbolic language ironically. What does the imagery of the Wild West represent to you? Editor: A romanticized, violent past? I guess that’s turned on its head here, with the cowboy as a figure of destructive power rather than justice. Curator: Precisely. The artist plays with our cultural memory, forcing us to confront the darker implications of the Western myth. It seems the artist is exploring our understanding of the past and its cultural influence today.