It has been a hard week for those of us coping with maverick withdrawal. I fear that it will be a long time before we enjoy the sheer panoply of maverickism that has usurped our days for the last few months. (And no, sadly, a couple hours with Mel Gibson just won't cut it this time.) But yesterday, driving down the hill and onto the boulevard in search of some mundane item, I found myself struck with a billboard erected by the Autry National Center of the American West. Upon reading the sign's utterly poignant text--"Maverick Art"--I nearly hit a tree. Writes the oh-so-timely curator: "I'm interested not only in understanding how frontier mythos and imagery continues to influence our contemporary identity as Westerners, but also the emergence of newer themes, from freeway culture to the atomic bomb." Bombs and freeways? Frontier mythos? Now tell me that's not stuff you want to think about in the age of Change. You betcha. I just hope there's an installation devoted to learning all the many countries that make up NAFTA and showing the maverick spirit it takes to mother the child your tween daughter conceived when she was said to have had mono. For more Maverick art subjects, please visit the Autry.
