Kent Monkman: History is Painted by the Victors is the first major show in the US for celebrated artist Kent Monkman (Fisher River Cree Nation, born 1965). Based in New York City and Toronto, Canada, Monkman is known for his provocative interventions into Western European and American art history. Through his painting, Monkman pushes forward an understanding of the lived experiences of Indigenous people today while confronting colonial injustices.

Featuring 41 monumental works, History is Painted by the Victors draws from the DAM’s extensive collection of Monkman’s work alongside newly created works and loans from other institutions and private collections. These works explore Kent Monkman’s use of history painting as a contemporary genre to highlight relevant issues 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. History is Painted by the Victors explores several key moments in Monkman’s career, including the inception of Monkman’s provocateur alter ego—Miss Chief Eagle Testickle— whom he often places in his canonical landscape and genre paintings of 19th century North America as well as The Rendezvous series, which focuses on the "golden age" of settler/Indigenous relations.

This exhibition is co-organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.