In the pantheon of departed Native artists Harry Fonseca defies the confinement of academic labels such as “traditional,” “tribal,” and “modern.” By the late 1960s, Fonseca produced a monumental icon of southwestern imagery with his interpretation of the Coyote, a figure that appeared in early work and evolved under the influence of Maidu tribal painter Frank Day. Born of a survivalist realism brought on by the genocide of California Native populations since first contact and the Gold Rush, the Coyote was neither the cartoon buffoon foiled by a roadrunner, nor a logo of Southwestern commercialism. Instead, Coyote reveals Fonseca’s critical perspective. Coyote is presented as a sometimes dangerous, perpetually observant creature, mocking societal norms and otherness through the lens of Fonseca’s Northern Sierra lore. The Coyote often reflected Fonseca’s self-identity, securely grounded in his Native heritage and enjoined with a celebration of stage, screen, and worldly activities. Following Fonseca’s resettlement to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and introduction to the Pueblo communities, a new figuration of the Coyote emerged and situated him in the Pueblo environment. These settings often found the worldly Coyote as adventurer, sometime observer, and becoming an actor, ballet dancer, and opera singer. The newly formulated Coyote that Fonseca rendered was the everyman, now located everywhere.

      Coyote/Koshare, Four Figures with Melons depicts four coyotes in the ritual role of clowns or koshare indicated by their distinctive black and white striped appearance. Clad in contemporary fashion, all appear in denim shorts and high-top tennis shoes. The clowns Fonseca presents are not in a ceremonial role but captured in a moment of relaxation as they eat seasonal watermelon in a scenario familiar to the annual Pueblo calendar of dances and feast day celebrations. Neither engaged in public entertainment nor in the sacred actions of ritual, Fonseca’s quartet creates a space exposed to the public gaze, offering a moment of shared humanity. Key to their state is the aura of delight created with the pastel palette; the lighter mood is echoed in the brighter pink tones. Dotting the sky is a wallpaper of glittering cotton candy cloud puffs that surround the quartet. The addition of a glittering rainbow completes the delightful pairing and recalls earlier modern art by Pueblo painters in the 1930s.¹

      Despite the comfortable atmosphere of this arrangement, the role of the clowns in Pueblo society is to facilitate community balance via their cautionary presence. This role underscores the need for wariness when dealing with koshare. Both the Coyote of the Northern Sierra and the koshare retain the duality of sacred and profane in the ceremonial ritual.² The symbolic nature of the Coyote and koshare is the embodiment of social commentary and of control. Coyote/Koshare, Four Figures with Melons simultaneously invites viewers to see our shared humanity with the Coyote and koshare, but also reminded not to transgress the boundary between viewer and clown lest we attract their attention. In this way, Fonseca provides a lighter manifestation of the koshare presence, but never fully withdraws the essence of the importance that such beings retain in the day to day lives and cultures of Indigenous groups.

¹ Sascha Scott, “Awa Tsireh and the Art of Subtle Resistance” in The Art Bulletin 95, no. 4 (2013): 597-622.

² Barbara A. Babcock, “Ritual Undress and the Comedy of Self and Other: Bandelier’s ‘The Delight Makers,’” in A Crack in the Mirror, Reflexive Perspectives in Anthropology, Jay Ruby, ed., (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982), 187-203.