Map of the Frenglish Kingdom of Novum Eboracum (New York) (We All Got To Have a Place We Call Home)

Frohawk Two Feathers, the alter ego of Umar Rashid, enlarges the type of vignette often found at the edges of antique maps to create a unique juxtaposition of figures and territory. This painting is part of his series chronicling an imaginary, alternative colonial history of the Hudson Valley where “Frenglish” (French, English, and Irish) and Batavia (the Dutch) clash in the “Battle of Yonkers.”

With wit and satire, this artist looks deep into man’s never-ending conflicts in paintings filled with multiracial characters and references to hip hop, urban slang, European imperialism, and even Egyptian symbolism. Here, the Pharaoh of New York, Bonnie Prince Johnnie, strikes a pose with his generals, and the faux map of the Hudson reminds us that the underlying message of many types of landscape art was a sense of ownership.

SC Hudson River Museum
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