I couldn’t tell if Miss Chief is a dominatrix deliberately trying to inflict pain or attempting to break up the scene. Is she upset that the bears are so intimate with the colonial newcomers? Is she angry that the settlers are moving into her landscape so easily? Or is she furious at herself for liking what she’s doing?
The painting won’t be in the exhibition for much longer. It’s being taken down during the week of Sept. 7, not because of any complaint but because of delays caused by COVID-19.
The painting by Monkman, a Cree artist now living in Toronto, has been on tour with Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience since it premiered at the University of Toronto in January, 2017. The MOA exhibition is the last on its cross-country tour.
Shame and Prejudice was supposed to open earlier in May at MOA but was postponed because of the pandemic. Since the exhibition is going much longer than expected, the collector who loaned the work wants it back.
Jennifer Kramer, associate professor in the department of anthropology and curatorial liaison for the exhibition, said in an email that the Kent Monkman Studio has decided to replace the painting with “a line drawing of the painting’s frame with a framed small-size giclée print of the painting, accompanied by a placard explaining that the loan period has ended and thanking the collectors for their generosity throughout the exhibition.”
Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience by Kent Monkman continues to Jan. 3, 2021 at the Museum of Anthropology.
Source:- Vancouver Sun
