A brush with... Kent Monkman

Kent Monkman talks to Ben Luke about his influences—from writers to musicians, film-makers and, of course, other artists—and the cultural experiences that have shaped his life and work. Monkman was born in 1965 in St Mary’s, Ontario, and today lives and works between New York City and Toronto. He is a member of the Fisher River Cree Nation in Treaty 5 Territory, in Manitoba, Canada, and uses the language of European and North American art to reflect on Indigenous experiences. He addresses colonisation and its legacies, loss and memory, resistance and protest, and the disparities between Native American and settler colonial attitudes to gender and sexuality, among many other subjects.

Monkman is often present in his work through his gender-fluid alter ego Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, a glamorous, supernatural, shapeshifting time-traveller. At once a witness, a trickster and an agent of change, Miss Chief is a key means for Monkman to subvert colonial perspectives, in challenging both the imagery of Old Master paintings and the construction of histories relating to Indigenous peoples. In the conversation, he describes Miss Chief’s role—“living inside” his paintings—reflects on the reimagining of queer narratives of the American fur trade, and discusses the historical and present reverence for gender-fluid or two-spirit people in Indigenous communities. He reflects on the enduring impact of Eugène Delacroix’s painting and writing, the influence of Jaune Quick-to-See Smith on his political conviction, and the dramatic impact of seeing Antonio Gisbert Pérez’s painting The Execution of Torrijos and his Companions on the Beach at Málaga (1988) at the Prado in Madrid. He gives insight into the complex process of making his paintings and other aspects of his studio life. Plus, he answers our usual questions, including the ultimate: what is art for?

Kent Monkman: History is Painted by the Victors, Denver Art Museum, Colorado, US, 20 April-17 August; Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 27 September-8 March 2026

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