Collection Friday! Seeing as how it’s my birthday this weekend, here’s a party-themed work from our collection (and one of my personal favourites). You can check it out in our current show, “An Embarrassment of Riches: The Collection in Focus.” Kent Monkman (b. 1965), video still from Dance to Miss Chief, 2010. Digital betacam video, 5 minutes, ed. 1/3. Known for his virtuosic ability as a painter, Kent Monkman has made extensive and effective use of appropriationist strategies to critically retell Canadian history. Through his work in performance, video, and film in particular, Monkman has created a persona – Miss Chief Eagle Testickle – that embodies his playfully seductive assumption of sexual power, blurring gender boundaries while simultaneously overturning entrenched political hierarchies. Dance to Miss Chief is a music video (in German with English subtitles) that critiques the German fascination with the North American “Indian.” Through an elaborately choreographed remix of contemporary and vintage footage, Dance to Miss Chief celebrates Miss Chief’s on-screen romance with leading man Winnetou, the fictitious “Indian” from Karl May’s German Westerns.
ZoomInfo
Camera
Canon EOS 30D
ISO
1250		 Aperture
f/4.5
Exposure
1/30th		 Focal Length
51mm

Collection Friday!

Seeing as how it’s my birthday this weekend, here’s a party-themed work from our collection (and one of my personal favourites). You can check it out in our current show, “An Embarrassment of Riches: The Collection in Focus.”

Kent Monkman (b. 1965), video still from Dance to Miss Chief, 2010.

Digital betacam video, 5 minutes, ed. 1/3.

Known for his virtuosic ability as a painter, Kent Monkman has made extensive and effective use of appropriationist strategies to critically retell Canadian history. Through his work in performance, video, and film in particular, Monkman has created a persona – Miss Chief Eagle Testickle – that embodies his playfully seductive assumption of sexual power, blurring gender boundaries while simultaneously overturning entrenched political hierarchies.

Dance to Miss Chief is a music video (in German with English subtitles) that critiques the German fascination with the North American “Indian.” Through an elaborately choreographed remix of contemporary and vintage footage, Dance to Miss Chief celebrates Miss Chief’s on-screen romance with leading man Winnetou, the fictitious “Indian” from Karl May’s German Westerns.

6Collection Friday, art, video, Dance to Miss Chief,