KENT MONKMAN
The Ford Erections
Date: 2014
Dimensions: 48” x 38”
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Condition: Overall very good
Provenance:
– Artist
– Trotta-Bono Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA
In this rare nightscape, four Ford trucks illuminate a theatrical scene. At the center stand the Lone Ranger and Tonto alongside Winnetou and Shatterhand – fictitious figures rooted in settler fantasy and European myth-making. Positioned according to the four sacred directions with corresponding color symbolism, the trucks’ headlights spotlight the men as if on stage, emphasizing the performance and artifice of these colonial constructions. Through biting humor and irony, Monkman critiques the appropriation and commodification of Indigenous cultures and lands, inviting reflection on the manufactured myths imposed upon Native identity.