Jerry Beck

You can count on us for your financial needs, 2003

Plates, paint

The title of this work comes from an advertising slogan used by an old Boston area bank, the Shawmut Bank.
This series of dinner plates have the logos of old and new Boston-based banks.

Symbols used by these banks, the Native American, the buffalo, and the bald eagle, have all come to symbolize American pride and power. I believe they also represent a paradoxical viewpoint of the dominant white culture.

Since the arrival of explorers like Hernando Cortez and Christopher Columbus, the American landscape has changed dramatically. War, racism, the destruction of the natural environment and the loss of animal species have affected the course of our history. These issues continue to challenge us and divide us as a people both here and in the world beyond.