KENT MONKMAN
The Annunciation
Date: 2025
Dimensions: 72” x 90”
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Condition: Overall very good
Provenance:
– Artist
– Trotta-Bono Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA
Set against a Bierstadt-inspired mountain landscape, The Annunciation depicts Indigenous and Anglo men wrestling, playing music, and celebrating by the lake, all charged with Monkman’s sharp satire and humor. Floating above them is Monkman’s alter ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle – a Christ-like figure who both blesses and playfully challenges narratives of power and identity. A bare-chested, painted Scotsman draped below the waist humorously blurs cultural lines, recalling historic Rendezvous gatherings as sites of alliance and cultural negotiation. The painting reclaims a landscape often erased by Western expansion, repopulating it with Indigenous presence, queer resilience, and ironic wit.
Kent Monkman (1965– ) is a renowned Cree artist known for his provocative and visually stunning works that challenge conventional narratives of colonialism, sexuality, gender, and Indigenous history. Born in St. Mary’s, Ontario, Monkman grew up in Winnipeg. He is a member of the Fisher River Cree Nation in northern Manitoba. Monkman’s unique multidisciplinary approach to art includes painting, performance, video, and installation, making him one of the most dynamic and influential Contemporary artists of Indigenous descent.
Kent Monkman’s work has been shown Internationally, with examples featured in major Institutions such as the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the National Gallery of Canada, the Glenbow Museum and the Gardiner Museum. His work has become a vital part of many prestigious collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum, the Royal Ontario Museum, the National Gallery of Canada, the Denver Art Museum, and the Art Gallery of Ontario, among many other Institutions.
In 2019-2020, Monkman created a monumental diptych titled mistikôsiwak (Wooden Boat People), which was prominently displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The two paintings, Welcoming the Newcomers and Resurgence of the People, explore the arrival of European settlers in North America and the resilience of Indigenous peoples in the face of colonization.
