KENT MONKMAN
HISTORY IS PAINTED BY THE VICTORS
History is Painted by the Victors (working title) will explore Cree artist Kent Monkman’s large-scale landscape and history paintings, reinforcing his credo that “History Painting” is a relevant contemporary genre. Visitors to the vast (10,000 sq. ft.) exhibition space will experience a dramatic and thematically immersive experience exploring an overarching and evocative narrative of colonization as seen through Monkman’s eyes and brush. This survey is Monkman’s first major exhibition in the United States.
Featuring many of Monkman’s most iconic and monumental works, this exhibition explores themes relevant to contemporary society, such as climate change and environmental protection, the impact of governmental policies on historically marginalized communities, generational trauma, and Two-spirit and other queer identifying communities’ visibility and pride.
One of Canada’s most renowned artists, Monkman challenges the art history of settler cultures that colonized and erased First Peoples from this continent’s art history, but he does so by absorbing many influences from the history of Western and European painting to reframe historical and contemporary Indigenous experiences. Monkman challenges colonial histories and explores themes of gender and colonized sexuality by taking inspiration from the artworks of numerous Western artists, including George Catlin and Albert Bierstadt, and from the Old Masters, such as Eugène Delacroix and Peter Paul Rubens. His monumental history paintings canonize Indigenous experiences and honor Indigenous resilience—past, present, and future.
Compositional Study for the Sparrow Kent Monkman 2022 Acrylic on canvas 36” x 36” Collection of Brian A. Tschumper Image courtesy of the artist
Miss Chief’s Wet Dream Kent Monkman 2018 Acrylic on canvas 144” x 288” Collection of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia Image courtesy of the artist
The exhibition explores several aspects of Monkman’s painting career, including:
The emergence and creation of Miss Chief, Monkman’s provocateur alter ego, in the canonical landscape and genre paintings of nineteenth-century North America and The Rendezvous series, which celebrate a golden age of settler/ Indigenous relations and the freedom of the frontier.
Large scale history paintings that canonize contemporary and historical Indigenous experience ranging from urban and LGBTQ2S+ experiences to mass incarceration and environmental protection and activism.
Haunting paintings that address the pain, sorrow, and generational trauma caused by forced residential school experiences.
Drawing and studies for larger works will be included when appropriate, revealing process and development of concepts to help visitors connect with Monkman’s creativity and studio practice.
Interpretive components for this exhibition will elevate and center the artist’s voice and artistic process, as well as highlight perspectives of Indigenous communities
DRAWING UPON RELATIONSHIPS
to reframe colonial histories and colonized identity. To inform this work, the Denver Art Museum will draw on deep relationships with Indigenous communities, local and international, to organize front-end listening sessions with community groups to determine visitor experience goals and delivery methods for information, perspectives, and stories (e.g., community labels, audio/soundscapes, videos, visitor response moments). Interpretation and moments for reflection will support all visitors, but particularly families and survivors of traumatic experiences, around difficult and emotional topics. An illustrated color catalog, co-published by DelMonico books, will accompany the exhibition and will include essays by Indigenous authors, leading curators, art historians, and historians to tell a complex and nuanced story of Indigenous experiences through the lens of Monkman’s work. Essay topics will explore Monkman’s artistic development along with broad themes like representation in art history and Indigenous experiences past and present. Additionally, focused essays from Indigenous people will provide grounded voices to personalize such experiences. The exhibition is scheduled to open at the Denver Art Museum in Spring 2025 and is available to travel starting late Summer to Fall of 2025 through 2026.
History is Painted by the Victors Kent Monkman 2013 Acrylic on canvas 72 x 113¼ Gift from Vicki and Kent Logan to the Collection of the Denver Art Museum, 2016.288 Image courtesy of the artist Saturnalia Kent Monkman 2017 Acrylic on canvas 84” x 126” Image courtesy of the artist
100 W 14th Ave. Pkwy. Denver, Colorado 80204 720-865-5000 The Scream Kent Monkman 2017 Acrylic on canvas 84” x 132” The Tia Collection Image courtesy of the artist