Reinterpreting the 19th-century works of Alfred Jacob Miller, Kent Monkman creates a fascinating dialogue surrounding mythology, indigenous peoples, and tradition this month through his newest acrylics in New York City. Who’s hosting, and for how long?
Peters Projects, in collaboration with GP Contemporary & Gerald Peters Gallery in New York City, is excited to provide Cree artist Kent Monkman with a platform to discuss a range of engaging topics during “Casualties of Modernity.”
On view through March 27, Monkman’s sharply rendered and saturated paintings “appropriate Nineteenth century western artist Alfred Jacob Miller,” the gallery reports. Discussing his intentions with the solo show, Monkman suggests, “Drawing upon mythological sources, both European and Native American, my series of paintings will feature dynamic scenes of indigenous peoples, mountain men, and trappers in various scenes of revelry and interaction. I will include animals in the scenes as they are central to mythologies — from Greek myths to indigenous legends — that express the most profound aspects of human existence and shape our understanding of nature and the cosmos.”
The gallery adds, “Kent Monkman’s New Work focuses on his thematic approach to fine art history that excludes Indigeneity. Monkman is responding to two common problems faced by Northern Native artists and theorists, preserving tradition and retrieving that which has been silenced, as if one could reclaim a speaking position from the past, a space in time prior to and beyond the colonial order. Monkman does not attempt to resurrect the past as it was, but rather implies that knowledge of the past can inform the present and future.”
To learn more, visit Peters Projects.
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