This is a big deal and therefore something I am celebrating BIG! I did a posting back in March 2019 when THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART (THE MET) in New York introduced a progressive new program. For this special exhibition Canadian Cree artist KENT MONKMAN is one of three international artists chosen for the honor. Well, the time is now here. The opening is December 19, this Thursday!
This is a very big shout-out to the very talented ARTIST KENT MONKMAN, one of my celebrated clients. I am so honored to work with him as his career continues to skyrocket.
I have been collaborating with Kent since 2005 starting with the photographic series "Emergence of a Legend" photographed by Chris Chapman. I am proud to create Kent’s makeup and hair bringing to life Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, his art alter-ego . As we move into a new decade it is exciting and sobering to seek new perspectives that challenge history and I am happy to see THE MET taking this initiative in the art world, a bold move for such an established institution. As Kent’s work is part of this evolution I am grateful for the opportunity to support this man's legacy. I wish him much continued success. If you should find yourself in NYC between December 19, 2019 and April 9, 2020 I encourage you to check out it out.
Capture of THE MET exhibition announcement website page profiling Kent Monkman. Go to the link below to read more detail about the exhibit and the artist.
(Excerpt from THE MET website. Read full overview from THE MET link below)
Exhibition Overview
Kent Monkman has been selected to create two monumental paintings for The Met's Great Hall. Monkman, born in Canada in 1965, is a Cree artist widely known for his provocative interventions into Western European and American art history. He explores themes of colonization, sexuality, loss, and resilience—the complexities of historic and contemporary Indigenous experiences—across a variety of mediums, including painting, film, performance, and installation. Monkman's gender-fluid alter ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, often appears in his work as a time-traveling, shape-shifting, supernatural being who reverses the colonial gaze to challenge received notions of history and Indigenous peoples.
This installation is part of a new series of contemporary commissions at The Met in which the Museum invites artists to create new works of art inspired by the collection, establishing a dialogue between the artist's work, the collection, the space, and audiences.
Kent Monkman (Cree, b. 1965). Welcoming the Newcomers, 2019. Acrylic on canvas, 132 x 264 in. (335.28 x 670.6 cm). Courtesy of the artist
Spring 2019 NEW YORK TIMES article announces THE MET and bold new programming showcasing Kent Monkman.
(Excerpt from article dated March 21, 2019. Read full article at NYTIMES.COM archive)
By Peter Libbey . March 21, 2019
As the Metropolitan Museum of Art prepares to close the Met Breuer, where, among other things, it staged multiple exhibits of contemporary art, the museum is making a point of staging high-profile exhibits from contemporary artists in its flagship space on Fifth Avenue.
On Thursday the museum announced two site-specific commissions from the contemporary artists Wangechi Mutu and Kent Monkman. A third contemporary artist, Ragnar Kjartansson, will also debut a new seven-channel video installation at the Met this spring.
“If you take all of them together, it is clearly a statement that shows the Met, in its main building, engages with contemporary art and contemporary artists in a way that is bold but also playful,” said Max Hollein, the Met’s director, in an interview. Playful, for Mr. Hollein, means “using the building itself and some of our more public spaces as areas of intervention, engagement and interaction with the audience.”