Kindred Spirits (After Durand) 2017

Kent Monkman painted ‘Kindred Spirits (After Durand)’ using oil on canvas, and it's a painting about painting. Monkman’s playful brushstrokes give us a grand landscape, and a narrative. Look at the way the figures are rendered, all fleshy pinks and oranges, in contrast to the detailed rendering of the forest setting. You can almost feel the texture of the tree bark, see the individual leaves. But then, there are the figures: two spirits entwined in what seems like a dance, and you notice that you can see the brushstrokes on their skin. They become part of the landscape in a way, part of the artist’s process. The title, referring to another painting by Asher Brown Durand, suggests the act of painting itself becomes a kind of kindred relationship across time, a way of seeing and experiencing the world anew. Like, what is the nature of influence? Where do ideas come from, and how do we rework them?