Interpellations: Three Essays on Kent Monkman

"In the guise of diva Miss Chief Eagle Testikle, Kenneth Monkman takes camp aesthetics to new extremes of political disturbance. Setting queer against straight, and both these against his dual identity as a Canadian of Cree descent, Monkman aka Miss Chief revisits the way key events in North American history have been represented. Recent performances and installations featured outlandish versions of objects like "Indian" moccasins in museum displays, videos with tragicomic takes on "Indians’" as the "other" to colonists, and Monkman’s own extraordinary paintings. Based on masterpieces of landscape and history art, these expose the repressions and fantasies grounding narratives of the "winning of the West."
Interpellations will be of exceptional interest to art historians and all those concerned with North American aboriginal civilization. Essays from acclaimed art historians Richard Hill, Jonathan Katz, and Todd Porterfield address issues central to Monkman’s activity: among others, absurdist tactics, alternative models of time and history, the interplay of identity, sexuality, and sovereignty. A camp design with gilt-edge pages and ultra-rich color illustrations makes this book an ideal vehicle for presenting Miss Chief’s "rampages through art history.""