Kent Monkman

Early Life and Artistic Formation

Kent Monkman was born in St. Marys, Ontario, in 1965 and was raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is a member of the Fisher River Cree Nation. He graduated with a degree in Canadian art from Sheridan College in 1986. His training was further shaped by residencies and programs at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, the Sundance Institute in Los Angeles, and the National Screen Institute. Monkman created sets and costumes for several Native Earth Performing Arts productions, including Lady of Silences (1993) by Floyd Favel and Diva Ojibway (1994) by Tina Mason. This multidisciplinary foundation informed his later expansive practice, which blends narrative, performance, and visual spectacle.

Artistic Practice and Central Themes

Kent Monkman's artistic practice is defined by its critical intervention into the visual language of Western art history. He works primarily in the tradition of history painting. Monkman subverts this European tradition by using its own aesthetic conventions to tell stories from Indigenous perspectives. His work explores the complex legacies of colonization, including themes of loss, resilience, sexuality, and the ongoing impact of government policies on Indigenous communities. A central methodological approach is the use of appropriation and mimicry, where Monkman directly references and reworks famous 19th-century paintings by artists such as Albert Bierstadt, George Catlin, and European Old Masters. By inserting Indigenous figures, narratives, and his trickster alter ego into these canonical scenes, he deconstructs the colonial gaze and challenges viewers to reconsider settled historical narratives. His technique involves a collaborative studio process where assistants help prepare large canvases based on photographic projections, after which Monkman applies his detailed finishing touches.

Monkman's work actively tackles contemporary societal issues through this historical lens. Key concerns addressed in his paintings include the climate crisis and environmental protection, intergenerational trauma within Indigenous communities, and the affirmation of Two-Spirit, queer, and trans Indigenous identities. His monumental 2018 painting, Miss Chief’s Wet Dream, which reimagines Théodore Géricault's The Raft of the Medusa, explores themes of migration and displacement via waterways. Similarly, a series begun in 2017 incorporated imagery from the Standing Rock protests into the format of classical battle paintings, directly linking historical resistance to contemporary activism. Between 2012 and 2016, Monkman created the four-part series The Four Continents (Miss America, Miss Africa, Miss Asia, and Miss Europe) as a critical response to Giambattista Tiepolo’s ceiling frescoes in the Würzburg Residence.

Miss Chief Eagle Testickle: The Trickster Persona

A defining feature of Kent Monkman's oeuvre is the recurring character of Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, his two-spirit, gender-fluid alter ego. Conceived in the early 2000s, Miss Chief is a time-travelling, shape-shifting persona who functions as a hunter, artist, seducer, and trickster. Her name is a playful pun on "mischief" and "egotistical," commenting on the mischievous role she plays and critiquing the perceived egotism of 19th-century colonial artists. Monkman created Miss Chief to honour and reclaim these traditions, crafting a powerful artistic persona that could actively challenge and rival the historical figures who documented Indigenous life. She appears in countless works, often reversing the colonial gaze by becoming the observer of European settlers and historical figures, thereby subverting the power dynamics inherent in historical art.

Miss Chief's embodiment of two-spiritedness is a deep assertion of Indigenous gender and sexual sovereignty. She often possesses an idealized masculine physique combined with contemporary drag aesthetics, challenging both historical depictions of two-spirit people as submissive and modern, narrow constructions of Indigenous masculinity. As a trickster figure, she exists to blur and undermine binary oppositions such as past and present, authentic and inauthentic, colonizer and colonized. Her presence introduces humour and irony into scenes that often deal with dark subject matter, making complex critiques more accessible. In 2023, Monkman, in collaboration with Gisèle Gordon, expanded her narrative universe with the publication of The Memoirs of Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, a two-volume fictionalized autobiography. The first volume was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction in 2024.

Major Exhibitions and Commissions

Kent Monkman has been the subject of numerous significant solo exhibitions across Canada, the United States, and Europe. His first nationally touring exhibition, The Triumph of Mischief, ran from 2007 to 2010. This was followed by the critically acclaimed Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience, commissioned by the Art Museum at the University of Toronto and curated by Barbara Fischer for Canada's sesquicentennial in 2017. The exhibition toured nationally until 2020, offering a provocative nine-chapter narrative that countered celebratory national myths with an examination of 150 years of colonization from an Indigenous perspective. In 2022, the Royal Ontario Museum hosted Kent Monkman: Being Legendary. His largest and most significant exhibition to date is the internationally touring History is Painted by the Victors, which opened at the Denver Art Museum in April 2025 and is scheduled at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from September 27, 2025, to March 8, 2026. This exhibition features approximately 40 of his monumental paintings.

Monkman has also received prestigious institutional commissions. In 2019, he was the inaugural artist commissioned for The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Great Hall in New York, creating the monumental diptych mistikôsiwak (Wooden Boat People). The Met subsequently acquired the two paintings, Welcoming the Newcomers and Resurgence of the People, in 2020. His works are held in the permanent collections of major museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Canada, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Denver Art Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Art Gallery of Ontario.

• Polarities (1993): Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver.
• The Prayer Language (2001): Indian and Inuit Art Gallery, Hull, Quebec.
• The Triumph of Mischief (2007 to 2010): First nationally touring solo exhibition.
• Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience (2017 to 2020): Commissioned for Canada 150, toured nationally.
• Kent Monkman: Being Legendary (2022 to 2023): Solo exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum.
• History is Painted by the Victors (2025 to 2026): Major international touring exhibition at Denver Art Museum and Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

Recognition and Awards

Kent Monkman's contributions to Canadian and international art have been recognized with numerous honours. In 2014, he received the Indspire Award. The year 2017 was particularly significant, as he received the Ontario Premier's Award for Excellence in the Arts, an honorary doctorate from OCAD University, and was named grand marshal for Pride Toronto. He also received the Bonham Centre Award from the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies at the University of Toronto in 2017. His highest civilian honour came in 2023 when he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2025, he was awarded the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts. He also received an honorary doctorate from Queen's University in 2024.

Film, Collaboration, and Publications

Beyond painting, Kent Monkman maintains a strong practice in film and video, often in collaboration with his partner, artist and filmmaker Gisèle Gordon. Their short films have been screened at prestigious international festivals including the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) in 2007 and 2008, and the Toronto International Film Festival in 2007 and 2015. An early video work, Group of Seven Inches (2005), is a subversive parody that critiques the colonial gaze of ethnographic photography and film. Their most extensive collaborative project is the two-volume book, The Memoirs of Miss Chief Eagle Testickle: A True and Exact Accounting of the History of Turtle Island, published in 2023. This fictionalized memoir, written from the perspective of Monkman's alter ego, was a finalist for the 2024 Governor General's Literary Award for fiction. Monkman has also been the subject of several scholarly publications from the Art Canada Institute.

Controversy and Critical Reception

While widely celebrated, some of Kent Monkman's work has generated controversy and critical debate. His 2020 painting Hanky Panky, which depicted former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a sexually suggestive and submissive pose with the Miss Chief character, drew significant criticism. Monkman initially framed the scene as consensual but later apologized for any harm caused. Some Indigenous critics argued the work invoked imagery of sexual violence and voyeurism, concerns that were heightened given the ongoing crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. More broadly, some art critics have questioned whether Monkman's strategy of mimicry and appropriation, while aimed at subverting colonial narratives, can sometimes risk prioritizing or inadvertently reaffirming a white colonial perspective by relying so heavily on its visual language.

Permanent Collections and Market Presence

Kent Monkman's artworks are held in an impressive array of public and private collections. His paintings and installations can be found in the permanent collections of leading museums across North America and Europe. In addition to these public institutions, Monkman's work is sought after by prominent private collections and foundations, including the Sobey Art Foundation, the Gochman Family Collection, Art Bridges, and the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation. The acquisition of his monumental painting Miss Chief’s Wet Dream by the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in 2018, via a gift from the Donald R. Sobey Foundation, is one example of how private philanthropy has supported the entry of his major works into public trust.

Questions about Kent Monkman

Who is Miss Chief Eagle Testickle?

Miss Chief Eagle Testickle is the two-spirit, gender-fluid alter ego created by Kent Monkman in the early 2000s. She is a time-travelling, shape-shifting trickster figure who appears as a hunter, artist, and seducer in his paintings and performances. Her name is a pun on 'mischief' and 'egotistical,' reflecting her role in subverting colonial narratives and critiquing the ego of historical European artists. Monkman was inspired by George Catlin's painting Dance to the Berdash (1835 to 1837) to create a persona that honours the tradition of the two-spirit.

What is Kent Monkman's most famous painting?

Among his most renowned works is the diptych mistikôsiwak (Wooden Boat People), created for The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Great Hall in 2019. This commission includes the two monumental paintings Welcoming the Newcomers and Resurgence of the People. Another widely recognized work is Miss Chief’s Wet Dream (2018), a massive painting that reimagines Théodore Géricault's The Raft of the Medusa from an Indigenous perspective. His 2006 painting Trappers of Men reworks an Albert Bierstadt landscape.

Where can I see Kent Monkman's art in Canada?

Kent Monkman's art can be seen in the permanent collections of several major Canadian museums. These include the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, and the Glenbow Museum in Calgary. His large-scale solo exhibition, 'History is Painted by the Victors', is scheduled at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from September 27, 2025, to March 8, 2026. His early exhibition The Prayer Language was at the Indian and Inuit Art Gallery in Hull, Quebec in 2001.

What awards has Kent Monkman won?

Kent Monkman has received many of Canada's top artistic honours. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2023 and received the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2025. He won the Ontario Premier's Award for Excellence in the Arts in 2017 and the Indspire Award in 2014. He also received the Bonham Centre Award in 2017 and honorary doctorates from OCAD University (2017) and Queen's University (2024).

What is the 'History is Painted by the Victors' exhibition?

History is Painted by the Victors is Kent Monkman's largest solo exhibition to date and his first internationally touring show. It opened at the Denver Art Museum in April 2025 and will be presented at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from September 2025 to March 2026. The exhibition features approximately 40 of his monumental paintings that subvert the European tradition of history painting. It addresses contemporary issues like the climate crisis, intergenerational trauma, and Two-Spirit identity through the lens of reimagined historical narratives.

Is Kent Monkman's art controversial?

Some of Monkman's work has sparked controversy due to its explicit and provocative nature. His painting Hanky Panky (2020), depicting a submissive Justin Trudeau with the Miss Chief character, drew criticism for its sexualized imagery. Some critics argue his mimicry of colonial art styles may inadvertently reinforce the perspectives it critiques. His film Group of Seven Inches (2005) is a subversive parody of ethnographic film. These controversies are inherent to his practice, which is designed to challenge viewers and provoke difficult conversations.

Sources and further reading

• Kent Monkman (Wikipedia)
• Kent Monkman: History Is Painted by the Victors | Exhibition (mbam.qc.ca)
• BIOGRAPHY (kentmonkman.com)
• Kent Monkman: Breaking Waves (agns.ca)
• Kent Monkman Exhibition at Montreal Museum of Fine Arts ... (mymodernmet.com)

Checked by the Nosy Mag desk. Last updated 2026-10-26.