Kent Monkman facts for kids

Kent Monkman (born November 13, 1965) is a famous First Nations artist from Canada. He has Cree family roots and is a member of the Fisher River Cree Nation in Manitoba. Monkman is known for his colorful and detailed art that tells stories about history from an Indigenous point of view.

He creates art in many forms, including painting, film, performance art, and installation art. One of his most famous creations is his alter ego, a character named Miss Chief Eagle Testickle. Monkman's work has been shown in museums all over the world and has earned him international fame.

Life and Career

Kent Monkman was born in St. Marys, Ontario, and he grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He studied art at Sheridan College and graduated in 1986. He also attended other famous art schools like the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

Early in his career, Monkman designed sets and costumes for plays. Over time, his work became more focused on challenging old ideas about Canadian history. In 2017, he created an exhibit called "Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience." This exhibit explored the 150th anniversary of Canada from the perspective of Indigenous peoples.

In 2019, the famous Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City asked him to create two large paintings for its Great Hall. The museum later bought these paintings, which are called mistikôsiwak (Wooden Boat People). This was a huge honor and showed how important his work had become.

Monkman's Art Style

Monkman's art often looks at history in a new way. He uses his work to show how Indigenous people have been seen by others and to share their own stories.

Using Old Paintings to Tell New Stories

Monkman often takes famous landscape paintings from the 1800s and repaints them with a twist. These original paintings were usually made by European or American artists. They often showed Indigenous people as "noble savages" or left them out of the picture completely.

Monkman changes these scenes to tell a different story. For example, in his painting Trappers of Men, he used a landscape by Albert Bierstadt. But in Monkman's version, his character Miss Chief is the hero, and the scene is filled with confused historical figures. By doing this, he flips the story and makes people think about who has the power to tell history.

A Classic Style for Modern Ideas

Monkman paints in the style of the Old Masters, who were famous European painters from centuries ago. He uses their dramatic and emotional style to talk about serious topics. He believes this classic style helps express powerful feelings.

For one project, Monkman and his team studied photos from the Standing Rock protests. They mixed these modern images with classic battle paintings from history. This created a powerful connection between past and present struggles.

Who is Miss Chief Eagle Testickle?

Kent Monkman's installation Salon Indien at the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2009.

Miss Chief Eagle Testickle is a character Kent Monkman created who appears in much of his art. She is his alter ego, which is like a second self that an artist uses to express ideas. Miss Chief is a brave, funny, and powerful character.

The name "Miss Chief" is a play on the word "mischief," because she is a trickster who likes to shake things up. The name "Eagle Testickle" sounds like the word "egotistical." This pokes fun at the attitudes of some historical artists who painted Indigenous people.

Miss Chief is a time traveler. She can appear in scenes from the past, present, and even in mythological stories. She helps Monkman tell stories about history in a way that is both serious and humorous.

The Inspiration for Miss Chief

Monkman was inspired to create Miss Chief after seeing a painting by an American artist named George Catlin. Catlin's painting showed a traditional Indigenous ceremony but his description was very judgmental. Monkman wanted to create a character who could challenge those old-fashioned views.

Miss Chief celebrates the tradition of two-spirit people in many Indigenous cultures. A two-spirit person is someone who is believed to have both a masculine and a feminine spirit. Monkman, who is also two-spirit, uses Miss Chief to honor this important part of Indigenous identity.

Miss Chief as a Trickster

In many stories, a trickster is a clever character who breaks the rules to teach a lesson. Miss Chief is a trickster who travels through time and challenges people's ideas. She can be funny and playful, but her actions often reveal serious truths about history and power.

By using humor, Monkman makes it easier for people to look at difficult subjects, like the history of colonialism. Miss Chief's adventures make the audience think about how stories are told and whose voices get to be heard.

Recent Work

In 2023, Monkman and his co-author Gisèle Gordon published a book called The Memoirs of Miss Chief Eagle Testickle. It is a fictional story that follows Miss Chief on her adventures through time. The book tells her life story in her own words. The first volume of the book was nominated for a major Canadian book award in 2024.

Select Exhibitions

• Polarities, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver, 1993
• The Prayer Language, Indian and Inuit Art Gallery, Hull, Quebec, 2001
• Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience, Art Museum at the University of Toronto, 2017
• Kent Monkman: Being Legendary, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, 2022–2023

Awards

• Indspire Award (2014)
• Premier's Awards for Excellence in the Arts (2017)
• Officer of the Order of Canada (2023)

Images for kids

• 

  A display at the Valencian Museum of Ethnology.

See also

In Spanish: Kent Monkman para niños

• Indigenous drag performers