[Kent Monkman at the alberta gallery of art]

 

If you are a fan of Kent Monkman as I am, and live in the Edmonton area, here's an opportunity to see four of his works -- at the Alberta Gallery of Art.

On until May 21, 2023, the Generations exhibit includes the three works seen above plus one more in another gallery. 

Of particular interest to me were the two paintings seen at the centre and right above (Resurgence of the People, and Welcoming the Newcomers, respectively). As you can see, they are large and detailed -- yet these are the studies for the final versions that are at the Metropolitan Museum of Art... final versions which are monumental at 11' x 22' in size. Nonetheless, as I can't get to New York anytime soon, it was amazing to see them this close up!

The artwork in the front is a "sculptural installation Museological Grand Hall by the contemporary Mi'kmaw artist Ursula Johnson [which] evokes a silent vigil for her female ancestors - makers of baskets..." (from the museum label).

[shame and prejudice - a story of resilience (book and exhibition)]

"Kent Monkman’s Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience takes you on a journey through the past 150 years of Canada. It is a journey that reclaims and reinserts Indigenous voices into the collective memory of our country, challenging and shattering colonial ideas of our history."

(from website)

Through his art, Kent Monkman has been critiquing the colonial world of the museums which have been so silent about Canada's history of colonization, which have presented the colonizers' view of history, which have whitewashed the horrible things that were done.

Expand your mind by taking part in this excellent curatorial tour of the exhibition:

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mACqPVUXzk8

Read the book online, in Cree, English and French: https://online.fliphtml5.com/xkla/ttia/#p=1. Note: I'd suggest watching the above video first, as it gives a clearer explanation if you are new to this.

[revision and resistance - kent monkman]

My birthday present just arrived in the mail, and I'm super excited about it:

In collaboration with Kent Monkman and his studio, the Art Canada Institute is publishing a book on the commission and creation of his diptych unveiled at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art this week. Revision & Resistance: mistikôsiwak at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which will be available for sale in March 2020, celebrates Monkman’s groundbreaking paintings with essays by today’s most prominent voices on Indigenous art and Canadian painting. (source: the Art Institute of Canada webpage)

Kent Monkman is a  Cree two-spirited artist living in the Toronto area whose work I've been following for a few years. He combines traditional European painting techniques with Indigenous imagery with critiques of colonization and Eurocentric views of history.

Here is one of the two pieces that he created for the Met:

Read more about the book:
https://aci-iac.ca/news/art-canada-institute-in-collaboration-with-kent-monkman

View my post about Monkman's exhibit, "The Rise and Fall of Civilization", at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary last year.

[rise and fall of civilization - exhibit]

In the late summer of 2019, I visited the Glenbow Museum with one specific goal in mind: to see the exhibit "The Rise and Fall of Civilization" by Kent Monkman, a Cree two-spirit artist based in Toronto.

From the museum's website:

Kent Monkman’s The Rise and Fall of Civilization references the near extinction of the American bison in the 1800s when unsustainable hunting practices, used primarily by white settlers, reduced the number of bison from over 30 million to just a few hundred by the 1880s. During this time, bison or buffalo were hunted for their durable hides and their bones were used for fertilizer and in the manufacture of bone china. The buffalo meat was left to rot, decimating a food source that had sustained Indigenous peoples for generations.

(source) 

Read more at the Glenbow Site: https://www.glenbow.org/exhibitions/kent-monkman-the-rise-and-fall-of-civilization/

The exhibit is long-term at the Glenbow, so be sure to check it out once the pandemic is over.


For a video about one of Monkman's other works, The Deluge, visit:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OqbhG4BX6oU

All photos by rob goetze. (c) 2019.