Rewrite Canadian history with the Cree artist Kent Monkman
Paintings by the Canadian Cree artist Kent Monkman feel familiar at first—romantic landscapes, coniferous forest, Mount Rushmore—but quickly reveal their surrealism: indigenous warriors reign mightily from rearing stallions, stoic rhinos and sleek red motorcycles, empowered in a way that native North Americans have rarely been in western art. In a new series of works on display at Toronto’s Centre Space until the end of February, Monkman hyperbolizes, subverts and prods the power dynamics that governed the relationship between European colonizers and North America’s first inhabitants. Instead of somber sermonizing, he goes for playful exuberance: the works feature outlandish allusions to Greek mythology and frequent cameos from the artist’s queer alter ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle.
To Feb. 28. Centre Space, 65 George St., centre-space.ca.
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/rewrite-canadian-history-cree-artist-kent-monkman/&title=Rewrite Canadian history with the Cree artist Kent Monkman&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/kent-monkman-best-bet.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_306998" align="alignnone" width="656"] (Image: Kent Monkman, Expelling the Vices, 2014. Courtesy of Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain)[/caption]
Paintings by the Canadian Cree artist Kent Monkman feel familiar at first—romantic landscapes, coniferous forest, Mount Rushmore—but quickly reveal their surrealism: indigenous warriors reign mightily from rearing stallions, stoic rhinos and sleek red motorcycles, empowered in a way that native North Americans have rarely been in western art. In a new series of works on display at Toronto’s Centre Space until the end of February, Monkman hyperbolizes, subverts and prods the power dynamics that governed the relationship between European colonizers and North America’s first inhabitants. Instead of somber sermonizing, he goes for playful exuberance: the works feature outlandish allusions to Greek mythology and frequent cameos from the artist’s queer alter ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle.
To Feb. 28. Centre Space, 65 George St., centre-space.ca.){kind=link}