Cowboys Do Cry by Josh Howatt

Cowboys Do Cry 
Josh Howatt
Acrylic, Mixed Media
36"h x 36"w x 1.5"d
2025

As a queer man raised in a conservative and religious environment, I wrestle with masculinity. I'm both drawn to it and repelled by it. Arbitrary rules like "real men don't use umbrellas; they endure the rain" and "cowboys don't cry" create a dissonance in me and, I believe, fuel an injurious framework for men, queer and otherwise. And still, I'm fascinated by my attraction to stereotypical masculine archetypes--often expressed in my work through Americana--and my aversion to the laws that govern them.

Get to Know the Artist:
Originally from Orange County, CA, he made his way to Texas via New York City. Self-taught and working in mixed media, Josh's art touches on subject matter around loss, healing, and identity. His work tries to find the beauty in the mundane, the ugly, the shapeless. And his art ranges from small paper illustrations and watercolors of the everyday, to bold, aggressive acrylic artworks contending with life's most complicated themes.