Kent Monkman: History is Painted by the Victors

EXHIBITION GUIDE

Kent Monkman (born 1965) is a Cree interdisciplinary visual artist. A member of ocêkwi sîpiy, Fisher River Cree Nation in Treaty 5 Territory (Manitoba), he lives and works between New York and Toronto. Known for his thought-provoking interventions into Western European and North American art history, Monkman explores themes of colonization, sexuality, loss and resilience—underscoring the complexities of historic and contemporary Indigenous experiences—across painting, performance, film/video and installation.

Monkman’s gender-fluid alter ego Miss Chief Eagle Testickle often appears in his work as a time-travelling, shape-shifting, supernatural being who reverses the colonial gaze to challenge received notions of history and Indigenous peoples.

Kent Monkman: History Is Painted by the Victors focuses on the artist’s paintings, bringing together a number of works that draw visual inspiration from the art historical canon to create a new version of history painting that interrupts the colonial gaze.

Through detailed, dramatic, and often humorous compositions on monumental canvases, Monkman sheds light on the histories, identities and realities often missing from dominant narratives, particularly those of Indigenous and Queer communities. The epic scope of Monkman’s paintings moves through searing scenes of oppression, lament, humour, pride and celebration. Through allegory, metaphor and astute art historical citations, his works challenge the authority of widely perpetuated colonial histories.

By centring Indigenous and Queer perspectives on North American history within the picture frame, Monkman offers new ways of seeing our shared histories, present and approaching futures.

Content Guidance

This exhibition features depictions of:

acts of resistance
bodily violence by authority figures
environmental exploitation
frolicking and leisure
loss and grieving
love and compassion
mischief and humour
nudity from across the gender spectrum
Queer visibility and pride
resilience

There is a space for reflection inside the exhibition should you need it.

My name is Miss Chief Eagle Testickle and I come from the stars

– Miss Chief Eagle Testickle

Kent Monkman (1965-), mistikôsiwak (Wooden Boat People): Welcoming the Newcomers, 2019, acrylic on canvas, 335.3 x 670.6 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, purchase, Donald R. Sobey Foundation CAF Canada Project Gift. © and image courtesy Kent Monkman

Miss Chief

Monkman engages histories of colonization with camp, humour and a healthy dose of mischief. Inspired by non-Indigenous artists in the 1800s who often painted themselves into their work, an act Monkman found egotistical, he created the narrator Miss Chief Eagle Testickle.

Miss Chief is a fierce provocatrix who moves through time and space in Monkman’s work to disrupt false and incomplete narratives. She embodies Indigenous resilience and presents an empowering point of view of Indigenous gender and sexuality. Look for Miss Chief throughout the exhibition.

Introduction

The Power of Visual Authorship

Affirming Two-Spirit Queer Indigenous Art History

Indigenous Histories and Futures beyond Cultural Genocide

Sovereign Acts Today and Tomorrow