KENT MONKMAN (b. 1965) is an interdisciplinary Cree visual artist. A member of oc锚kwi聽s卯piy (Fisher River Cree Nation) in Treaty 5 Territory (Manitoba, Canada), he lives and works between New York City and Toronto.
Known for his provocative interventions into Western European and American art history, Monkman explores themes of colonization, sexuality, loss, and resilience鈥攖he complexities of historic and contemporary Indigenous experiences鈥攁cross painting, film/video, performance, and installation. Monkman鈥檚 gender-fluid alter ego Miss Chief Eagle Testickle often appears in his work as a time-travelling, shape-shifting, supernatural being who reverses the colonial gaze to challenge received notions of history and Indigenous peoples.
Monkman鈥檚 artworks are held in the permanent collections of numerous institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Denver Art Museum; the Smithsonian American Art Museum; the Hirshhorn Museum; the New York Historical Society; Mus茅e des beaux-arts de Montr茅al; the Glenbow Museum; the National Gallery of Canada; and macLYON. Private collections that house his works include Art Bridges; the Gochman Family Collection; the Sobey Art Foundation; and the Walker Youngbird Foundation. His works have been exhibited at institutions such as Louvre-Lens; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art; SITE Santa Fe; Museum of Arts and Design; Palais de Tokyo; and the Royal Ontario Museum. In 2019, Monkman was commissioned as the inaugural artist to make two monumental paintings for The Met鈥檚 Great Hall Commission project. He has created other site-specific performances at the Royal Ontario Museum; Compton Verney, Warwickshire; and the Denver Art Museum. Monkman has had two nationally touring solo exhibitions in Canada: Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience (2017鈥�2020) and The Triumph of Mischief (2007鈥�2010). In 2025, Monkman鈥檚 first internationally touring large-scale solo exhibition History is Painted by the Victors opened at the Denver Art Museum and the Mus茅e des beaux-arts de Montr茅al.
Monkman鈥檚 short film and video works, collaboratively made with Gise虁le Gordon, have screened at festivals such as the Berlinale (2007, 2008) and the Toronto International Film Festival (2007, 2015). Monkman and Gordon鈥檚 literary collaboration, The Memoirs of Miss Chief Eagle Testickle: A True and Exact Accounting of the History of Turtle Island, was a finalist for the 2024 Governor General Award鈥檚 Literary Award in Fiction. Monkman is the recipient of the Ontario Premier鈥檚 Award for Excellence in the Arts (2017), an honorary doctorate degree from Queen鈥檚 University (2024) and OCAD University (2017), the Indspire Award (2014), and the Hnatyshyn Foundation Visual Arts Award (2014). In 2023, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada鈥擟anada鈥檚 highest civilian honour鈥攁nd in 2025, he received the Governor General鈥檚 Award in Visual and Media Arts.