TORONTO — Artist Kent Monkman, a Cree, two-spirit creator known for his provocative and gender-fluid alter ego Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, is set to debut a new exhibition at the Frick Collection this November. Titled “Officer and Laughing Girl,” the show marks the first time a Native artist has exhibited at the prestigious New York institution, known primarily for its classical European art.

Monkman’s work reimagines historical narratives from an Indigenous perspective, using humor and subversion to challenge established interpretations. The exhibition draws inspiration from Johannes Vermeer’s 17th-century painting of the same name, housed at the Frick. Monkman adapts the composition to depict a series of confrontations across centuries between Native peoples and European settlers, incorporating figures such as Dutch traders, fur trappers, and even U.S. General George Custer. In a poignant touch, Monkman places a portrait of Sitting Bull—Custer’s historic adversary—in the background, highlighting longstanding Indigenous resistance. His final painting in the series brings the dialogue into the present, showing a bald eagle executive who resembles Jeff Bezos, symbolizing contemporary power structures.

The artist’s alter ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, often appears scantily clad and wearing stilettos, a deliberate choice that invites viewers to question and engage with the histories being portrayed. Monkman embraces the mystique surrounding his creation, encouraging audiences to interrogate whose stories are told in art and whose are left out.

Aimee Ng, chief curator of the Frick Collection, describes Monkman’s paintings as morally provocative interventions in the tradition of history painting, which typically aims to reinforce dominant beliefs. “He asks if this is the history you know. Is it everyone’s history? What parts of that history are fictionalized?” Ng said, underscoring the exhibition’s critical inquiry into cultural memory and identity.

Monkman, 60, has gained international attention for his romanticized yet unsettling landscapes and ethnographic portraits that confront colonial narratives. His career has often been defined by a desire to unsettle and entertain simultaneously, a trait exemplified since his introduction to Indigenous history and museums as a child in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The timing of “Officer and Laughing Girl” coincides with renewed public debates around nationalism and historical memory in the United States, including controversial proposals like President Donald Trump’s suggestion to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America.” Monkman’s work thus enters an important cultural conversation about who controls historical narrative and how Indigenous experiences are represented in the contemporary art world.