Cowboy Noir

One in four cowboys in the American West was Black, and almost none of the imagery says so. Cowboy Noir puts that record back in the visual language it was erased from — vintage rodeo bills, wanted posters, concert one-sheets — and runs it across figures a century apart: Bill Pickett and Bose Ikard alongside Beyoncé, Shaboozey, Lil Nas X, the Compton Cowboys.

Every poster carries a subject, a claim and a line of record. Heavy wood type, halftone portraits, star rules, one signature lockup. Print-scaled at 11x17 and 24x36 so the series could hang as a set in the room.

Creative Director, end to end. 20 posters designed as one system, print production coordinated, the New York activation built around the series, and the dance piece choreographed and hosted on the night.

The reference wall: rodeo bills, dance-hall cards, wanted posters, tour one-sheets. Where the typographic rules came from before a single poster was drawn.

The New York night the series was made for.

I wrote the concept, designed the posters, researched every subject and ran the print production. The research is the part that took longest — each poster makes a factual claim about a real person, so each one had to hold up.

Then I planned the night internally with my team, ordered the decor and installed it with a team member and a crew we led, built the poster wall, choreographed the dance piece and taught it, worked the drink concepts with the bar, and hosted the event.