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Coyote
Felipe Benito Archuleta
Photo by Gavin Ashworth
Coyote
Coyote
Felipe Benito Archuleta
Photo by Gavin Ashworth
Coyote Felipe Benito Archuleta Photo by Gavin Ashworth
Record Details

Coyote

Artist ((1910–1991))
Date1982
Place/RegionTesuque, New Mexico, United States
MediumPaint on cottonwood, with wood teeth, marble eyes, sisal whiskers, and rubber toenails
Dimensions35 1/2 × 56 × 9 1/2"
Credit LineGift of Elizabeth F. Wecter, Animal Carnival, Inc.
Accession number1985.20.11
CopyrightCopyright for this work is under review.
Description

I asked God for some kind of miracle, some kind of a thing to do, to give me something to make my life with. I started carving and they just come out of my mind after that.
—Felipe Benito Archuleta

Felipe Benito Archuleta is known for his ferocious life-size animals, created with a chain saw and detailed with a pocketknife. In 1964 Archuleta reported a vision instructing him to make woodcarvings. The connection with the supernatural and the afterlife is remarkably common ground for many self-taught artists. It explains their artistic impulse but also provides a context for being uprooted and redefined with new foundations. Art historian Michel Thévoz suggested in an article referring to mediumistic artists (historically related to art brut) that this “relation” is an alibi for the “common man” who is afraid to proclaim himself an artist. The attribution to a mission bestowed by uncontrollable powers could serve as a way to evade condemnation by relatives or members of the community, who perhaps could more readily accept the fate of creation than an irrepressible drive coming from within.

Valérie Rousseau, “Coyote,” exhibition label for Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum. Stacy C. Hollander and Valérie Rousseau, curators. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2014.

Felipe Benito Archuleta, “Coyote”, Tesuque, New Mexico, Dated 8-16-1979, Carved and painted woo…
Felipe Benito Archuleta
Dated 8-16-1979
1988.22.2
Felipe Benito Archuleta, “Lion”, Tesuque, New Mexico, Dated 12-30-77, Cottonwood, hair, paint, …
Felipe Benito Archuleta
Dated 12-30-77
1988.22.1
Rabbit
Leory Archuleta
Photographer unidentified
Leroy Archuleta
1985
1985.20.15
Catfish
Felipe Benito Archuleta
Photo by Wit McKay
Felipe Benito Archuleta
1985
1985.20.10
Felipe Benito Archuleta, “Sheep”, Tesuque, New Mexico, 1982, Cottonwood, sheep's wool, glass ma…
Felipe Benito Archuleta
1982
1985.20.12
Mike Rodriguez, (b. 1948), “Seated Coyote,” Rowe Mesa, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1985, Paint on cot…
Mike Rodriguez
1985
1985.20.30
Felipe Benito Archuleta, “Parrot”, New Mexico, n.d., Paint on wood, glass eyes, 21 × 13 1/2 × 1…
Felipe Benito Archuleta
n.d.
1995.15.1
Artist unidentified, “Standing White Horse”, United States or Canada, n.d., Paint on wood, glas…
Artist unidentified
n.d.
1988.20.6
Pig
David Alvarez
Photographer unidentified
David Alvarez
1982
1985.20.3
Seated Tiger
Felipe Benito Archuleta
Photo by Gavin Ashworth
Felipe Benito Archuleta
1970
1985.20.13
Felipe Benito Archuleta, Leroy Archuleta, “Pig”, New Mexico, 1982, Cottonwood, paint, rope tail…
Felipe Benito Archuleta
1982
1985.20.14
Tiger
Felipe Benito Archuleta
Photo by Paul Primeau
Felipe Benito Archuleta
1977
2000.17.1