A Kind of Prayer presents the first-ever survey dedicated to the late Cree artist Kimowan Metchewais and his singular body of work on Indigenous identity, community, and colonial memory.

After his untimely death at age forty-seven in 2011, Metchewais left behind a wholly original and expansive body of photographic and mixed-media work. At the center of his practice is an extensive Polaroid archive, which addresses a range of themes—including the artist’s body, performative self-portraiture, language, landscapes, and everyday subjects—and served as the source material for works in other media, such as painting and collage.

Metchewais’s exquisitely layered works offer a poetic meditation on his connection to home and land, while challenging conventional narratives and representations of Indigeneity. Metchewais was a contemporary artist of stunning originality, and until now, his work has been woefully understudied and underexposed.

A Kind of Prayer is a comprehensive overview that showcases this essential artist’s astonishing vision.

With texts by Christopher T. Green, Kimowan Metchewais, Emily Moazami, and Jeff Whetstone

Published by Aperture, 2023

Hardcover, 268 pages, 150 images, 7.75 × 10.55 inches

ISBN: 978-1-59-711532-2