The Denver Art Museum has been collecting paintings by Kent Monkman (*1965) on a large scale for over 10 years. For the first time, his works can now be seen in a comprehensive solo museum exhibition: 41 monumental paintings, including recent works, are presented in Kent Monkman: History is Painted by the Victors. The museum's collection is supplemented by loans from private and public collections. Monkman is an Indigenous artist whose provocative paintings have garnered positive attention from art critics. He combines his allusions to European history painting with the life experiences of indigenous people around oppression, injustice and the desire for freedom. Monkman conceives many of his works around his gender-neutral alter-ego Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, with whom he caricatures clichéd »Indian representations«. Kent Monkman: History is Painted by the Victors opens on April 20 and runs until August 17.
Monkman is a member of the Fisher River Cree Nation, which lives in central Canada. The artist resides and works in New York City and Toronto. In addition to his paintings, he also produces installations, videos, photographs and object art as well as performances. His video works have been shown at the Berlinale (2007, 2008) and the Toronto International Film Festival (2007, 2015), among others. Monkman has received several Canadian art awards and in 2023 he was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian honor. In the same year, his book The Memoirs of Miss Chief Eagle Testickle: Vol. 1. A True and Exact Accounting of the History of Turtle Island was published, which mixes true and fictional stories about the history of North America from the creation of the universe to the founding of the state of Canada in 1867.
