At first glance, some of Kent Monkman’s paintings could remind of you of something that you’ve seen in your grandmother’s living room.
Reminiscent of 19th century oil paintings of the Wild West, his work is exceptionally detailed, portraying landscapes, cowboys, Aboriginals. However, a closer look reveals something that might make Grandma spill her tea: a two-spirited libertine, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, wearing nothing but a long white fur coat lined in pink satin, and knee-high pink leather boots. This particular painting, Charged Particles In Motion, gives us a taste of what we can expect in Monkman’s upcoming exhibition at the Glenbow Museum.
The Triumph of Mischief contains a collection not only of Monkman’s oil paintings, but also his sculptural spaces, objects, films and photography from 2003 to present. His version of the Old West symbolizes the unknown stories of personal encounters between the European and First Nations in North America. He uses humour, eroticism, and evocative allegories to re-tell and disrupt historical stereotypes around sexuality, identity, and narratives about Aboriginal culture.
Monkman, a multidisciplinary Canadian artist of Cree ancestry, knew from an early age that he was meant to create and tell stories. “I had a strong artistic identity at a very young age. From the time I was 5 or 6, I decided I was an artist and that was that. My parents were great about encouraging all aspects of my artistic path and I feel really lucky.”
A great muse for Monkman’s work is his performance alter-ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle (punning ‘mischief and ‘egotistical’), who also appears in several of his paintings and films. “Sometimes I find the works by her, sometimes I find them by myself,” says Monkman. “She has such a strong presence in the work, they are all sort of self-portraits of her.”
The process of finding her grew organically. “The performance part of my practice grew out of painting and similarly I developed my alter-ego in my painting. It evolved to the point where I knew I had to bring her to life via live performance and video work. There’s a safety in how far-reaching she can be in the painting; in a live performance, that safety is removed, but I knew that’s what I needed to do.”
Miss Chief performed live for the first time in 2004 at the McMichael Canadian Arts Collection in Ontario, where Monkman was invited to do a weekend residency. “The place had become known for being a little stuffy, and I felt that it needed to be shaken up a bit. Some of their policies about programming seemed to be going backwards in time, so I knew this was the place for her to come out.”
The Triumph of Mischief has been specifically designed to allow Monkman to work collaboratively with different curators at each exhibit. Ben Portis is the guest curator for the exhibition at the Glenbow Museum. “One of the things that the Glenbow is doing is making evident links between Kent’s work and portrayals of the West and Aboriginal life in the 19th century that is already evident in the historical section of its collection. We’ve pulled out a number of paintings by First Nations artists who lived in the plains either in Alberta or the U.S. in the 1800’s,” says Portis.
“A great thing about working with the Glenbow is that it’s not just passively embracing the work. Sometimes, this kind of provocational art can go somewhere and be allowed to sing its own tune with little elaboration – either it hits or misses its audience. The tone at the Glenbow is really going to grapple with the implications of the artwork on several levels; being a challenging expression in terms of indigenous identity, gay identity, and contemporary culture.”
Portis gained a deeper appreciation for Monkman as an artist, as he became more and more familiar with his work. “I came into this exhibition with some awareness of Kent and his work. I had seen two prior editions of this show [TOF] and there were some aspects of the work that I appreciated more than others. I always responded well to his films, the paintings seemed kind of coded to me, and maybe that’s still true. But having really concentrated on them and given them attention, I’ve discovered that there’s a considerable consistency of imagery and inference, that not only connects all of the paintings but connects the films and the performance work.”
The Monkman painting featured on the cover, ”Si je t’aime prends garde à toi” (If I love you, beware!), uses James Earle Fraser’s classic sculpture, End of the Trail [1915] as one of its inspirations, but flips the implications entirely, shares Portis. “Fraser’s sculpture - a defeated, weary, Indian warrior on a horse, this sinewy figure with little life left in it, became a strong image of a closing of chapters. In Kent’s work, this gesture of weariness is now one of regeneration. The warrior is coming back to life, his muscles are rippling, and now being bent over is a gesture of acceptance and adoration. It’s a complex image, and Kent straddles all of this ancestry and history beautifully.”
Looking at the already extensive collection of Monkman’s creations and noting that he has showings scheduled for 2011 and 2012, it’s hard to imagine that he has any downtime. But he’s not complaining. “I do take great pleasure in my work and traveling,” says Monkman. “Even if I’m not applying myself to the work I have ideas floating inside my head but it’s never a burden because I love my work so much. It’s energizing, never tiring, and I get so much out of it.”
If you’re looking for a chance to see this accomplished and exceptional artist in person, Monkman will be in attendance at the launch party for The Triumph of Mischief on February 13th at the Glenbow Museum. He is also in attendance at the Trépanier Baer Gallery in Calgary on February 11th, where some of his most recent works, including the monumental The Death of Adonis and Sunday In The Park, will be exhibited. An exciting chance to see these works before they head to the 17th Biennale of Sydney, Australia, this May.
