Kent Monkman

Kent Monkman

Kent Monkman (born 1965) is a Canadian First Nations artist of Cree ancestry. He is a member of the Fisher River band situated in the Interlake Region.[1] He is both a visual as well as performance artist, working in a variety of media such as painting, film/video, and installation.[2] He has had many solo exhibitions at museums and galleries in Canada, the United States, and Europe.[2]:1 He has achieved international recognition for his colourful and richly detailed combining of disparate genre conventions and also for his clever recasting of historical narrative

Monkman was born in St. Marys, Ontario and raised primarily in Winnipeg, Manitoba.[3] Monkman attended various Canadian and US institutions, including the Banff Centre, the Sundance Institute in Los Angeles, and the Canadian Screen Training Institute.[1]:1 He graduated from Oakville's Sheridan College in 1989 (Canadian Art). Monkman lives and works in Toronto, Ontario

In 2017, Monkman was presented the Bonham Centre Award from The Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, University of Toronto, for his contributions to the advancement and education of issues around sexual identification.[5] He also accepted the honorary title of grand marshal for Toronto's Pride parade that year, citing the importance of Canada's 150th anniversary and raising awareness to his work.[6]

In response to Canada 150, curator of the University of Toronto art museum, Barbara Fischer, commissioned Monkman's exhibit, "Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience".[7] The exhibit combines physical artefacts from museums and archives across Canada with his painting style that engages with colonialism, aiming to "set up a provocative friction between Canadian national myths, aboriginal experience and traditional European art practices."[7] The exhibit sought to bring the Indigenous experience into the conversation, looking also at what Canada's 150 years meant for Indigenous people.[8][9]

In 2019, the Metropolitan Museum of Art commissioned two paintings from Monkman for its Great Hall, entitled "mistikôsiwak (Wooden Boat People).