Renowned artist Kent Monkman has come under fire for creating a painting that shows Prime Minister Justin Trudeau partially nude on his knees preparing for what Monkman says is a consensual act while Indigenous women surrounding him laugh.
Renowned Cree artist Kent Monkman has come under fire for his new painting that shows Prime Minister Justin Trudeau partially nude, on all fours, preparing for what Monkman called “a consensual act” while Indigenous women surrounding him laugh.
The painting, titled Hanky Panky, has been condemned by many who believe it portrays sexual violence and disrespects First Nations traditions. But it is also being praised by some, including Ojibway Senator Murray Sinclair.
Monkman posted the work on Facebook on Saturday and said the piece was meant to highlight problems with “the Canadian (in)justice system” and the victimization of Indigenous women, who experience violence and sexual assault at rates higher than other women in Canada. But it provoked a backlash.
“It just really made me feel sick, and the way that the likeliness of Trudeau was being held down and forced into it,” said Jaye Simpson, an Oji-Cree Saulteaux queer artist and writer in Vancouver. “It reminded me of some of my own situations and it just made me sick.”
Simpson took a closer look at the image and said it appeared sexual violence was being depicted as restitution. In a post on social media, Monkman described the circle of women in his piece as traditional law keepers, the okihcitâwiskwêwak in Cree.
Simpson sees it as Cree women’s protocols, or traditional roles, being disrespected.
The painting also shows a Mountie lying on the ground with his pants down and former prime ministers in the crowd, watching.
Monkman is known for creating highly se