Kent Monkman (b.1965)

'As an artist it is my role to push boundaries and complicate discussions about perceived ideas about aboriginal identities.' (1)

An important Canadian painter, draftsman, printmaker, photographer, filmmaker, sculptor, and performance artist, Kent Monkman was born in St. Marys, Ontario. He grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba (and on reservations in northern Manitoba) and has been living in the Greater Toronto Area since he attended the Sheridan College of Applied Arts in the late 1980s (graduated 1989). His work has been exhibited widely in North America and Europe and his works are in the permanent collections of several museums including the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the National Gallery of Canada. (2)

His mediums include acrylics, watercolors, gouache*, graphite, chromogenic prints, giclee* prints, copper plate etchings*, installations*, videos, video paintings, films, jewelry, silicone rubber, pewter, ceramics, textiles, and mixed mediums. He is of Cree Indian ancestry and his indigenous heritage inspires and informs all of his best known works. His subjects include portraits, self portraits (usually in drag, dressed as an Indian woman), figures, landscapes, historic events, art history, social commentary, symbolism, fantasy, eroticism, race issues, sexuality (especially berdache Indians), allegory*, humor, irony, mythology and religion. His styles could be described as Appropriation*, Conceptual Art*, Lettrism*, Luminism*, Modernism*, Neo Classicism*, Pop Art*, Post Modernism*, Realism* and Surrealism*. The askART auction results have some excellent illustrations of his oeuvre.

Quote: “Kent Monkman is a Canadian artist of Cree, Irish, and British descent who has gained recognition for his vivid, large scale and lavishly detailed historical landscapes. Inspired by the romantic paintings of Edward Church, Thomas Cole, and George Catlin, Monkman uses a traditional American landscape to contrast a re-imagined indigenous history, commenting on the effects of colonialism and Christianity. His alter ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, makes dramatic appearances bringing in the themes of homoeroticism and altered views on sexuality to his paintings. The eccentric representation of Miss Chief challenges the power dynamics between the Europeans and Aboriginals and criticizes traditional myths of contact between the two cultures.” (3)

Monkman’s works have been featured in numerous public venue group exhibitions such as “Discovering Ourselves Not Columbus”, American Indian Community House Gallery, New York City (1992); “Thin Skinned”, A Space Gallery, Toronto (2002); “Between You and Me”, Museum London, Ontario (2002); “Histoire des Amériques: "Nous venons en paix..." [History of America: We Come In Peace…], Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art (2004); “Hot Mush and the Cold North”, Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario (2005); “The American West”, Compton Verney Art Gallery, Warwickshire, UK (2005); “Re-thinking Nordic Colonialism”, The Nordic Institute for Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland (2006); “Crack the Sky: la Biennale de Montréal 2007”, multiple Montréal locations (2007); “Remix: New Modernities in a Post-Indian World”, Heard Museum, Phoenix and National Museum of the American Indian, New York and Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (2007, 2008 and 2009); “Caught in the Act: The Viewer as Performer”, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (2008); “Vantage Point: The Contemporary Native Art Collection”, National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C. (2010); “Remember Humanity”, Witte de With Centre for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (2010); “Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years”, various Winnipeg locations (2011); “Acting Up: Performing the Indian”, Platform – Centre for Photographic and Digital Arts, Winnipeg, Manitoba ( 2011); “Steeling the Gaze: Portraits by Aboriginal Artists”, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario (2011); “Barroco Nova: Neo-Baroque Moves in Contemporary Art”, Artlab Gallery, McIntosh Gallery, and Museum London, all in London, Ontario (2011 – 2012); “Shapeshifting: Transformations in Native American Art”, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts (2012); “Beat Nation: Art, Hip Hop and Aboriginal Culture”, Vancouver Art Gallery, B.C. and touring (2012); “Winnipeg Now”, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Manitoba and touring (2012); “Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation 3”, Museum of Arts and Design, New York City and touring the U.S.A. and Canada (2012 – 2013); “Fiction, Non-fiction”, Illingworth Kerr Gallery, Alberta College of Art + Design, Calgary (2013); “The Painting Project”, Galerie de l'UQAM, Montréal ( 2013); “Sakahàn: International Indigenous Art”, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (2013); “Blood Memories”, Tweed Museum of Art, Duluth, Minnesota (2013); “Unsettled Landscapes”, SITE Santa Fe, New Mexico (2014); “Native Fashion Now”, Peabody Essex Museum Salem, Massachusetts and Portland Art Museum Portland, Oregon and Philbrook Museum of Art Tulsa, Oklahoma and National Museum of the American Indian, New York City (2015, 2016 and 2017); “Dioramas”, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France (June 14 – September 10, 2017); and “Neo Native: Toward New Mythologies”, Sam and Alfred Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts, Alta Loma, California (June 4, 2017 – January 7, 2018). (4)

Monkman’s works have been the subjects of solo exhibitions at the Discovery Gallery, Royal Ontario Museum Toronto (1994); Art Gallery of Hamilton, Ontario (1994 and 2007); The Indian Art Centre, Ottawa (2001); Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff, Alberta (2006); Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario (2007); Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto (2007); Winnipeg Art Gallery, Manitoba (2008); Saint Mary's University Art Gallery, Halifax (2009); Montreal Museum of Fine Art (2009); Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, B.C. (2010); Glenbow Museum, Calgary (2010 and 2013); Leonard and Bina Ellen Gallery, Concordia University, Montreal (2011); Musee d’art contemporain de Rochechouart, Rochechouart, France (2014); McCord Museum, Montreal, Quebec (2014); Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario (2015); Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener, Ontario (2016); Gardiner Museum, Toronto (2015 – 2016); and the Art Museum, University of Toronto (2017). (4)

The tour schedule for his most recent solo exhibition entitled “Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience”, which began its run at the at the Art Museum, University of Toronto in January of 2017, is as follows: the Glenbow Museum, June 17–Sept. 10, 2017; Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Jan. 6–Apr. 8, 2018; Confederation Centre Art Gallery, June 24–Sept. 15, 2018; Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Oct. 13–Dec. 16, 2018; McCord Museum, Feb. 8–May 5, 2019; Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Summer 2019; Winnipeg Art Gallery, Oct., 2019 – Jan., 2020; and the Museum of Anthropology, May–Oct., 2020.

Monkman’s works have also been featured in solo and group exhibitions at prominent commercial galleries such as Galerie Sans Nom, Moncton, New Brunswick; Pierre-Francois Ouellette, Montreal; Bailey Fine Arts, Toronto; Deleon White Gallery, Toronto; Robert Langen Art Gallery, Waterloo, Ontario; Urban Shaman Gallery, Winnipeg; Latitude 53, Edmonton, Alberta; Trepanier Baer Gallery, Calgary, Alberta; Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver; Sargent’s Daughters, New York City; Peters Projects, Santa Fe, New Mexico; Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, England; Context Gallery, Derry, Ireland; Galerie Michel Rein, Paris, France; Galerie Florent Tosin, Berlin, Germany; and the Megumi Ogita Gallery, Tokyo, Japan. (4)

Monkman is the illustrator of the books A Coyote Columbus Story (1992) and Wenjack” (2016).

According to the Canadian Heritage Information Network* and individual museum sources, his works are in the permanent collections of the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada Aboriginal Art Collection (Gatineau, Québec), Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto), Canada Council Art Bank (Ottawa, Ontario), Carleton University Art Gallery (Ottawa, Ontario), Denver Art Museum (Colorado), Joliette Art Museum (Quebec), Justina M. Barnicke Gallery – Hart House Collection (University of Toronto, Ontario), Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery (Concordia University, Montreal), MacKenzie Art Gallery (Regina, Saskatchewan), Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art (Quebec), Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Quebec), Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery (University of British Columbia, Vancouver), Museum London (Ontario), Robert McLaughlin Gallery (Oshawa, Ontario), Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (Washington, D.C.), Vancouver Art Gallery (B.C.), and the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa).

Monkman is the recipient of the 2014 Indspire Award* for the Arts. It is the highest honor the Canadian Indigenous community bestows upon its own achievers.

Footnotes:
(1) Quote source: Kent Monkman quoted in “Visual Artist Kent Monkman to receive Indspire Award”, by Kim Wheeler, CBC News, March 20, 2014.

(2) Please note: The Canadian Encyclopedia online offers this additional information about Monkman’s academic training after attending Sheridan College of Applied Arts: “He subsequently attended various other Canadian and US institutions, including the Banff Centre, the Sundance Institute in Los Angeles and the Canadian Screen Training Institute. Later, he worked as a set and costume designer for theatrical productions in Toronto, eventually turning exclusively to artmaking.” – M.D. Silverbrooke

(3) Quote source: Waddington’s Concrete Contemporary Art, March 31 – April 13, 2017 auction catalogue description for lot 78.

(4) Please note: This list of exhibitions and venues, while lengthy, is by no means complete. We have also not mentioned any of Monkman's live performances, films or videos, or the museums, galleries, festivals and events where they were exhibited. For details about these elements of the artist’s oeuvre see the CV listing them on the Kent Monkman website. – M.D. Silverbrooke

Sources:
Kent Monkman: Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience (2017), by Barbara Fisher; Black Dog Publishing, London, England

Kent Monkman: The Rise and Fall of Civilization (2016), by Kelvin Browne, Sarah Milroy, and Tasha Hubbard; Gardiner Museum, Toronto

Wenjack (2016) by Joseph Boyden, Illustrations by Kent Monkman, Hamish Hamilton, Penguin Canada, Toronto

La beauté du geste: 50 ans de dons au Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (2014), by Josée Bélisle, John Zeppetelli; Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal

Unsettled Landscapes (2014), by Janet Dees et al; SITE Santa Fe, New Mexico

AGO: Highlights from the Collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario (2013), by Art Gallery of Ontario; Published by Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto

Sakahàn: International Indigenous Art (2013), by Greg A. Hill, Candice Hopkins and Christine Lalonde; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Cree History and Culture (2013), by Helen Dwyer, Mary A. Stout; Gareth Stevens Pub., New York

Winnipeg Now (2013), by Meeka Walsh et al; Winnipeg Art Gallery, Manitoba

Barroco Nova: Neo-Baroque Moves in Contemporary Art (2012), by Josée Drouin-Brisebois et al; ArtLab et al

Art Inspired by the Canadian Rockies, Purcell Mountains and Selkirk Mountains, 1809 – 2012” (2012), by Nancy Townshend; Bayeux Arts, Calgary

Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation 3: Contemporary Native North American Art from the Northeast and Southeast (2012), by Ellen Napiura Taubman and David Revere McFadden; Museum of Arts and Design, New York, N.Y.

Shapeshifting: Transformations in Native American Art (2012), by Karen Kramer Russell; Yale University Press, New Haven

Beat Nation: Art, Hip Hop and Aboriginal Culture (2012), Kathleen Ritter and Tania Willard; Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, B.C.

Interpellations: Three Essays on Kent Monkman (2012), by Jonathan D. Katz, Richard W. Hill, and Todd Porterfield; Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Montreal

Oh, Canada: Contemporary Art from North America (2012), edited by Denise Markonish; MIT Press, Cambridge, MA and MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA

Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years (2011), by Candice Hopkins et al; Plug-In Editions, Winnipeg

The Visual Arts in Canada: The Twentieth Century (2010), by Brian Foss, Anne Whitelaw and Sandra Paikowsky (see askART Publications)

Caught in the Act: The Viewer as Performer (2008), by Josée Drouin-Brisebois; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Kent Monkman: the Triumph of Mischief (2008), by David Liss et al; Art Gallery of Hamilton, Ontario

Practical Dreamers: Conversations with Movie Artists (2008), by Mike Hoolboom; Coach House Books, Toronto

Remix: New Modernities in a Post-Indian World (2007), by Joe Baker et al; National Museum of the American Indian, New York; Heard Museum, Phoenix; and Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

The Triumph of Mischief: Kent Monkman (2007), by David Liss et al; Art Gallery of Hamilton

The American West (2005), by Jimmie Durham et al; Compton Verney, Warwickshire, UK

Histoire des Amériques: "Nous venons en paix..." [History of America: We Come In Peace…] (2004), by Paul Landry et al; Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art

Between You and Me (2002), by Patricia Deadman and Debra Prince; Museum London, Ontario

The Trickster Shift: Humour and Irony in Contemporary Native Art (1999), by Allan J. Ryan; University of Washington Press, Seattle

A Coyote Columbus Story (1992), by Thomas King and pictures by William Kent Monkman; Douglas & McIntyre, Toronto

Visual Artist Kent Monkman to receive Indspire Award, by Kim Wheeler, CBC News, March 20, 2014

Canadian Heritage Information Network*

The Canadian Encyclopedia (online)

Art Museum, University of Toronto

Waddington’s Concrete Contemporary Art

Indspire Award website

Kent Monkman website (CV)

* For more in-depth information about these terms and others, see AskART.com. Glossary http://www.askart.com/AskART/lists/Art_Definition.aspx

Written and contributed to askART by M.D. Silverbrooke.