Artist Farhad Moshiri’s lavish canvases draw inspiration from the tropes of the classic American Westerns he absorbed as a child in his father’s cinema in Iran. For artists like Moshiri and Andy Warhol alike, the cowboy represents an enduring symbol of American identity, culture, and aspiration, and serves as fodder for their own pop compositions. Join film scholar Dr. Mark Best and chief curator Jose Diaz as they discuss campy clips from Elvis Presley’s Flaming Star, John Wayne classics dubbed in Farsi, the Marx Brothers’ Go West, Andy Warhol’s Lonesome Cowboys, and more, unpacking the romantic myth of the cowboy and its influence in global popular culture.

Dr. Mark Best is a Lecturer in English and Film Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. He has taught film and literature courses in subjects including the Western and superhero genres, American film history, the graphic novel, theories of popular culture, biblical literature, and the films of John Ford. His research interests include the American superhero genre and gender in the Cold War era, the Bible in popular culture, and Japanese science fiction film and television. Best is currently working on a book project on Japanese giant monster movies, specifically the history of the Gamera film series from the 1960s to the present.

This event is sponsored by the Film Studies Program, University of Pittsburgh.