Brianna Wentz | Warpaint

Brianna Wentz | Warpaint
October 31 – December 14, 2024
Vagina Witchcraft Performance: Thursday, October 31st from 7:00-10:00pm
Opening Reception: Friday, November 1st from 5-9 pm
Artist Talk and Livestream: Saturday, November 2nd from 1-2 pm

A symbol of sex, controversy, and rock n’ roll—excessive, depraved, and worshipped without restraint—the Demon embodies every freedom and whim denied to women and gender-diverse people. Warpaint releases the demon in the metalhead fangirl, who is no longer a passive fan, but a rockstar in their own right. Rather than being possessed by the music, alluding to religious ecstasy and demonic possession, the fan becomes the demon themselves, challenging oppression and normativity in the scene.
This shift speaks to a deeper issue faced by Indigenous, Black, and other racialized people—the constant expectation to be strong and resilient. We are told we are resilient, but why should we always have to be? Centuries of intergenerational trauma, compounded by everyday racism and sexism, demand a space where sorrow, fear, desire, and rage can be unleashed. Enter metal, punk, and rock n’ roll.
These spaces provide an outlet for BIPOC and queer metalheads to build community and reclaim their identities. By honoring punk values, kinship is cultivated, because the mere presence of racialized and gender-diverse people in these scenes—and their very existence in a post-colonial society—is metal as fuck. Warpaint depicts these kin in all their unleashed deadliness.
Yet, racialized women and non-binary people remain underrepresented in metal. Few figures exist in these scenes with whom they can identify. There continues to be undercurrents of white supremacy, sexism, and homophobia in factions of metal and punk. Black Metal, known for its iconic corpse paint, has been shaped by musicians who openly supported white supremacist ideologies and homophobic hate crimes. These works seek to confront and dismantle such ideologies by depicting the power of the bodies and spirits they seek to destroy.
Through this process, the works in Warpaint empower them to ‘be their own heroes.’ As Leila Taylor writes in Darkly, “the process of dehumanization is a process of monster-making. But monsters have power.” Being cast as the outsider has created a strength to confront, reclaim, and reshape metal by by embracing a raw, deadly, and unapologetically defiant spirit—showing that women, non-binary, and BIPOC voices lead the scene.

Brianna Wentz
Brianna Wentz (she/her) is a visual artist based in Winnipeg. Raised in rural communities throughout Manitoba, her family is culturally Mennonite but she is also Swampy Cree, Dene, and Goth.
Her painting practice probes obsession and fetishization. She uses gothic and alternative subcultures as tools to build kinship in the face of colonial assimilation.
In 2019 she graduated from the School of Art at the University of Manitoba BFA Honours Program. She has exhibited paintings, murals, and collaborative public installations in Canada and Finland. She has worked in artist-run centers and galleries throughout Winnipeg. She is a part of the production team for the Wall-to-Wall Mural Festival and co-curates with Synonym Art Consultation.

Adjunct Programming
Vagina Witchcraft | Last Performance
Date: Friday, October 31st Halloween
Door: 7:00 pm
Adrienne Huard Pole Performance: 7:30 pm
Music: 8:00 pm to 10 pm
Location: Urban Shaman | 203-290 McDermot Ave.
Tickets available at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/vagina-witchcraft-tickets-1028316842357

Fronted by nonbinary poet & activist Kayla Fernandes, Vagina Witchcraft dives headfirst into deeply personal topics concerning racial identity, mental health, depression, heartbreak & anger. The doom metal-hardcore band hailing from Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada, draws influence from classics like Black Sabbath combined with the sheer, combative energy of 80s hardcore punk. Vagina Witchcraft is performing their self titled album one last time, with some friends in the music scene from bands like compost & mulligrub.
The night will also feature a pole dance performance by Adrienne Huard, a Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer Anishinaabekwe from Couchiching First Nation.