Artist apologizes for criticized painting of prime minister
Toronto-based Cree painter Kent Monkman’s statement comes after critics say art can read as ‘revenge rape’
Cree artist Kent Monkman is apologizing for a painting that critics say depicts Indigenous women laughing at a sexual assault of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The Toronto-based artist’s graphic portrayals of colonial violence in Canada have been featured in galleries across the globe, including a recent installation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
But critics say his latest work, “Hanky Panky,” implicates Indigenous women, two-spirit and trans people in the violence Monkman purports to deconstruct, prompting the provocative painter to concede that he may have missed the mark.
“I deeply regret any harm that was caused by the work,” Monkman wrote in an Instagram post Monday.
In a statement on his website Thursday, Monkman said he wasn’t speaking with the media so he could focus on feedback from the community, and that the backlash will have a “lasting impact” on his work.
“Hanky Panky” shows a man resembling Trudeau crouched down on all fours with his pants pulled down to his knees, revealing his nude buttocks.
Monkman’s gender-fluid alter-ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, stands over him while holding up an object shaped like a red hand, while a group of men who resemble former prime ministers look on in consternation. A Mountie can be seen splayed out on the floor, his rear end also exposed.
The men are encircled by a group of laughing Indigenous women, a couple of whom seem to be holding down the Trudeau look-alike. One woman wraps her arm around the man’s neck and snarls down at him, while another grips his buttocks and cackles.
In the caption, Monkman says the work highlights the problems of the “Canadian (in)justice system” that inflicts and ignores violence against Indigenous women and two-spirit people.
“In my own reimagining, through their laughter, a group of Indigenous women reclaim their agency,” Monkman wrote.
But many viewers weren’t laughing. While some commenters applauded Monkman’s willingness to push boundaries, many felt he crossed a line.
In his caption, Monkman writes that the work depicts a “consensual” encounter, but critics say this claim strains credulity.
Rowan Red Sky, an Oneida art historian based in Toronto, was among those who read the painting as a “revenge rape” fantasy.
Given that Indigenous women, trans and two-spirit people suffer sexual violence at disproportionate rates, Sky said the insinuation that they would delight in seeing similar trauma inflicted on someone else is a “kick in the gut.”