More than an invention, the Marlboro cowboy is a mythic figure. The Swiss photographic artist Hannes Schmid has put his stamp on the iconic figure of the cowboy, which in the 1990s essentially took root
even in the world of conceptual art.
What intrigues Hannes Schmid is to look into coteries, into private, closed groups and to analyze their social behavior patterns, thus
introducing his viewers to those groups’ rituals. He does this without judgment, but with respect; he is not their judge but rather one of
them. For Hannes Schmid a picture’s value lies in its impact. His heroes, representatives of a unique world, are likable, and viewers
can easily imagine themselves belonging to them, to their world. Indeed, questions regarding one’s own personal reality do not even
arise.
The cowboy is an archetypal figure from the world of dreams and serves as a shining example or hero. Not only in his native land but all over the world, he embodies the desire for freedom and thus symbolizes a
longed for masculine way of life. Even in the detailed view the cowboy’s iconic attributes remain clearly recognizable. Hannes Schmid’s perspective reveals that here culture and subject come together and change places. What emerges at this meeting point is not
trivial by any means.
Thanks to the added photo-realistic reproductions of Schmid’s works on canvas, the artist here is playing with two levels of perception:
representation and reality. The picture first enters our awareness boldly and simply and then penetrates into our depths. This shifting
relationship between representation in photographs and in paintings could be pursued further and ultimately lays bare the nature of the
world as malleable. Hannes Schmid is not interested in the fleeting glance out the window as the world rushes by. His pictures are to
affect us; they are intended to make a difference. They stimulate our senses and evoke nostalgic feelings. The artist deliberately chooses
and places his colors, and by using predominantly warm hues, he evokes a feeling of an almost sacred space, of safety and protection, of
home. Viewing the pictures in succession leads to a sense of defamiliarization and this makes the cowboy all the more into a mythic
