Dana Claxton is a critically acclaimed artist who works with film, video, photography, single/multi- channel video installation, and performance art. Her practice investigates indigenous beauty, the body, the socio-political and the spiritual. Her work has been shown at the Museum of Modern Art (NYC), Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC), Walker Art Centre (Minneapolis, MN), Sundance Film Festival, Salt Lake City (UT), Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Indianapolis (IN), Museum of Contemporary Art (Sydney, AU), Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (Bentonville, AR), Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University (Durham, NC), Memphis Brooks Museum of Art (TN) and the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MN). Her work is held in public, private and corporate collections including the National Gallery of Canada, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Vancouver Art Gallery, Mackenzie Art Gallery, Audain Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Getty Museum, Eiteljorg Museum, Seattle Art Museum, Forge Project, Minneapolis Institute of Art, University of Toronto, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art and the Moose Jaw Museum and Art Gallery.
She has received the VIVA Award (2001), Eiteljorg Fellowship (2007), Hnatyshyn Foundation Visual Arts Award (2019), YWCA Women of Distinction Award (2019), Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts (2020), the Scotiabank Photography Award (2020), and the Audain Prize for the Visual Arts (2023). She is the winner of Best Experimental film at the IMAGINATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival (2013).
Fringing the Cube, her solo survey exhibition, was mounted at the Vancouver Art Gallery (2018) and the body of work Headdress premiered at the inaugural Toronto Biennial of Art, Toronto ON (2019). Her latest solo exhibition Dana Claxton: Spark opened at the Baltimore Museum of Art in August 2024.
She is Professor and Head of the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory with the University of British Columbia. She is a member of Wood Mountain Lakota First Nations located in SW Saskatchewan and she resides in Vancouver Canada.
Dana comments, “I am grateful for all the support my artwork and cultural work has received. I am indebted to the sun and my sundance teachings – mni ki wakan - water is sacred. ”
Selected CV
Solo exhibitions
2024
Baltimore Museum of Art, Dana Claxton: Spark, Baltimore MD
2023
Henry Museum, Monsen Lecture Presentation, Seattle, WA
V-Tape at Bachir/Yerex Presentation Space, The Dreaming: Dana Claxton’s video art, curated by Winston Xin, Toronto ON
2021
Ryerson Image Center, Scotiabank Photography Award: Dana Claxton, Toronto ON
2018
Vancouver Art Gallery, Fringing the Cube, Vancouver Canada
The Bentway with Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, A Forest of Canoes, Toronto ON.
2017
Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Dana Claxton: The Camper, Oshawa ON
MacKenzie Art Gallery, The Sioux Project, Regina SK
2016
Audain gallery, Made to be Ready, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver Canada
2015
Tribe & AKA, Dana Claxton: Revisited, Saskatoon SK
2014
28 Billboards Across Canada, INDIAN CANDY
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, INDIAN CANDY, Victoria Canada
Your KONTINENT, VIDEO TIPI, Media Arts Festival, Richmond Canada
2013
Media Gallery, University of Concordia, ON SET – THE MUSTANG SUITE, Montreal QC
Winsor Gallery, INDIAN CANDY, Vancouver Canada
2012
Wanuskewin Heritage Park Gallery, The People Dance, Saskatoon SK
Urban Shaman Gallery, TXT4WPG, Winnipeg MB
2011
Gallery@501, Sitting Bull and the Moose Jaw Sioux, Sherwood Park AB
2010
Winsor, New Works by Dana Claxton, Vancouver Canada
2009
University of Lethbridge Gallery, To Mark on Surface, Lethbridge AB
On Main, The Barbarian, Vancouver Canada
2008
Keyano Art Gallery, Dana Claxton Video Art 1994-2007, Fort McMurray AB
Alternator Gallery, The Mustang Suite, Kelowna Canada
2007
Grunt Gallery, Starting From Home, Vancouver BC. Online Retrospective
Thames Art Gallery, Sitting Bull and the Moose Jaw Sioux, Chatham ON
Esplanade Art Gallery, Sitting Bull and the Moose Jaw Sioux, Medicine Hat AB
2006
Prince Albert Art Gallery, Sitting Bull and the Moose Jaw Sioux, Prince Albert SK
Swift Current Art Gallery, Sitting Bull and the Moose Jaw Sioux, Swift Current SK
2005
Surrey Art Gallery, Art of the Canadian Landscape, Surrey Canada
2004
Moose Jaw Art Gallery, Sitting Bull and the Moose Jaw Sioux, Moose Jaw SK
2003
Rialto Gallery, Untitled, Venice, Italy
Change Gallery, The Heart of Everything That Is, Rome, Italy
2002
Estevan Art Centre, Buffalo Bone China, Estevan SK
Oboro, Waterspeak, Montréal QC
2000
Artspeak, Waterspeak, Vancouver Canada
Kamloops Art Gallery, The Heart of Everything That Is, Kamloops Canada
Vancouver Art Gallery, Dana Claxton: The Red Paper, Vancouver Canada
1997
Tribe & AKA, Buffalo Bone China, Saskatoon SK
Selected group exhibitions
2024
Benjamin Lumb Art House, The Portfolio Show, Vancouver Canada
Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Resistance, Oshawa ON
Phillips New York, New Terrains: Contemporary Native American Art, New York, NY
Javits Center, The Armory Show, New York City, NY
National Gallery of Canada, Radical Stitch, Ottawa ON
Art Gallery of Alberta, Records and Remembrance: A Selection of Recent Acquisitions, Edmonton AB
2023
Minneapolis Institute of Art, In Our Hands: Native Photography, 1890 to Now, Minneapolis, MN
Hessel Museum of Art, Indian Theater: Native Art, Performance and Self-Determination since 1969, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Santa Monica Airport, Frieze LA, Los Angeles, CA
Heard Museum, Early Days: Indigenous Art from the McMichael, Phoenix AZ
2022
Owens Art Gallery, The Baroness Elsa Project, Sackville NB
2021
Art Gallery of Alberta, Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts 2020, Edmonton AB
Carleton University Art Gallery, The Baroness Elsa Project, Ottawa ON
2019
Minneapolis Institute of Art, Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists, Minneapolis, MN
Walter Phillips Gallery, Carry Forward Tour, Banff AB
Nasher Museum of Art, Duke University Art for a New Understanding: Native Voices, 1950 to Now, Durham, NC
2018
Dunlop Gallery, Carry Forward Tour, Regina SK
Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Beginning with the Seventies, Vancouver Canada
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Art for a New Understanding: Native Voices, 1950s to Now, Bentonville, AR
2017
Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Carry Forward, Waterloo ON
Onsite Gallery, Raise a Flag: Works from the Indigenous Art Collection, Ontario College of Art and Design, Toronto ON
Gallery 44, What Does One Do With Such a Clairvoyant Image?, Toronto ON
2016
Audain Museum, Inaugural Exhibition, Whistler Canada
Nuit Blanche, Modest Eyes, Montreal QC
2015
Monte Clark gallery, Traces That Resemble Us, Vancouver Canada; in conjunction with artists’ picks of relating movies shown at the Pacific Cinematheque, Vancouver Canada: Dog Day Afternoon by Sidney Lumet
Remai Modern Art Gallery, Sky Doodle, Saskatoon SK
Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Plains Indians Sky and Land, New York NY, USA
IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native American Arts, You Are On Indian Land, Santa Fe NM, USA
2014
Ottawa Art Gallery, In the Flesh, Ottawa ON
Ryerson Image Centre, GHOST DANCE: ACTIVISM. RESISTANCE. ART. Toronto ON
Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Beat Nation, Montréal QC
2013
Nuit Blanche, The Uplifting, The Offering, The Crawl, video installation, Toronto ON
Power Plant, Beat Nation, Toronto ON
Mendel Art Gallery, Steeling the Gaze, Saskatoon SK
Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art à Paris, Contemporary Art & Indigenous Identities, Paris, France
2012
Kelowna Art Gallery, Steeling the Gaze, Kelowna Canada
2011
Vancouver Art Gallery, Beat Nation, Vancouver Canada
Vancouver Art Gallery, The Audain Collection, Vancouver Canada
Samstag Museum, Stop(the Gap): International Indigenous Art, Adelaide Australia
Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Steeling the Gaze, Thunder Bay ON
McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Steeling the Gaze, Kleinburg ON
Dalhousie Art Gallery, Steeling the Gaze, Halifax NS
Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Fierce: Women’s Hot-Blooded Video and Film, Oshawa ON
2010
McMaster Museum of Art, Fierce: Women’s Hot-Blooded Video/Film, Hamilton ON
Oakville Galleries, Diabolique, Oakville ON
Galerie de I’UQAM, Diabolique, Université du Quebec, Montréal QC
MOCCA, The Mechanical Bride, Toronto ON
2009
National Gallery of Canada, Steeling the Gaze, Ottawa ON
Dunlop Art Gallery, Diabolique, Regina SK
Mackenzie Art Gallery, Buffalo Bone China, Regina SK
2008
Art Gallery of Alberta, Face the Nation, Edmonton AB
Winnipeg Art Gallery, 18 Illuminations Contemporary Art and Light, Winnipeg MB
2007
Eiteljorg Museum, Eiteljorg Fellowship, Indianapolis IN, USA
St. Mary’s University Gallery, 18 Illuminations Contemporary Art and Light, Halifax NS
MacLaren Art Centre, 18 Illuminations Contemporary Art and Light, Barrie ON
2006
Vancouver Art Gallery, 75 Years of Collecting: First Nations Myths and Realities, Canada
Robert McLaughlin Gallery, 18 Illuminations: Contemporary Art and Light, Oshawa ON
Art Gallery of Peterborough, 18 Illuminations: Contemporary Art and Light, Peterborough ON
2005
Tom Thomson Gallery, 18 Illuminations: Contemporary Art and Light, Owen Sound ON
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Back/Flash, Winnipeg MB
Walter Phillips Gallery, Back/Flash, Banff AB
2004
MOCCA, A History Lesson, Toronto ON
Guangdong Museum of Art, Gatherings: Aboriginal Art -WAG Collection, Guangzhou, China
2003
Walter Phillips Gallery, BACK/FLASH, Banff AB
Museum of Natural History, Gatherings: Aboriginal Art -WAG Collection, Taipei, Taiwan.
Folly Gallery, Vancouver Video, Lancaster, United Kingdoms
Huashan Arts District, Magnetic North, Taipei, Taiwan
Power Plant, Magnetic North, Toronto ON
Centre d’art Contemporain Basse-Normandie, Video Art Plastique, Hérouville-Saint-Clair, France
Cube Microplex, Bluescreen Presents: Redscreen, Bristol, United Kingdoms
2002
Galleria di Nuova Icona, Vancouver Video, Venezia Italia
2001
Plug In, Magnetic North, Winnipeg MB
Art Gallery of Hamilton, Magnetic North, Hamilton ON
Harvard Film Archives, Magnetic North, Cambridge MA, USA
Canadian Trade Office, Exhibition, Taipei, Taiwan
TRIBE, Beyond Tonto II, Saskatoon SK
2000
Walker Arts Centre, Magnetic North, Minneapolis MN, USA
Video Pool, Magnetic North Tour, Winnipeg MB
Vancouver Art Gallery, From the Collection -The Red Paper, Vancouver Canada
Mackenzie Art Gallery, New Acquisitions Buffalo Bone China, Regina SK
Hong Kong U of Science & Technology, Centrifugal Vision-Video Circle, Hong Kong, China
Canada House, UK/Canadian Video Exchange 2000, London, United Kingdoms
Western Front, Scope, Vancouver Canada
1998
Open Space, Red Interiors, Victoria Canada
Walter Phillips Gallery, Beauty and the Beast, Banff AB
Surrey Art Gallery, Red Interiors, Surrey Canada
EM MEDIA, Red Interiors, Calgary AB
Nanaimo Art Gallery, Red Interiors, Nanaimo Canada
Tribe, Beyond Tonto, Saskatoon SK
1996
Vancouver Art Gallery, topographies, Vancouver Canada
Presentation House, Urban Fictions, North Vancouver Canada
Collections
Single channel works in collections for educational purposes
Bishop’s University
California Institute of the Arts
Camosun College
Carleton University SSAC
Concordia University
Emily Carr University
First Nations University of Canada
Kwantlen University
McMaster University
Michigan State University
Mount Royal College
Nova Scotia College of Art & Design
Okanagan University
Ontario College of Art & Design
Queens University
Rochester Institute of Technology
Simon Fraser University
Trent University
University of British Columbia
University of Calgary
University of Lethbridge
University of Manitoba
University of New Brunswick
University of Oklahoma
University of Ottawa
University of Regina
University of Saskatchewan
University of Saskatoon
University of Texas
University of Toronto
University of Victoria
University of Washington
University of Western Ontario
University of Winnipeg
Vancouver Public Library
White Mountain Academy
Xwi7xwa Library/UBC
York University
Permanent collections
Audain Collection
Art Gallery of Alberta
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
Baltimore Museum of Art
Caixiforum Fundacio la Caixa, Barcelona Spain
Canada Council Art Bank
CDN Trade Office Taipei
Colby College Museum of Art
Dalhousie University Art Gallery
Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis IN
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
Forge Projects
Getty Museum
Henry Art Gallery
The Image Centre
Kamloops Art Gallery
MacKenzie Art Gallery
McMichael Canadian Art Collection
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Moose Jaw Museum and Art Gallery
Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery
Museum of Modern Art
National Gallery of Canada
Native and Inuit Art Collection, Ottawa ON
Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art
Private and Corporate Collections
Remai Modern, Saskatoon, SK
The Robert McLaughlin Gallery
Saskatchewan Arts Board
Scotiabank Fine Art Program
Seattle Art Museum
Surrey Art Gallery
TD Bank Collection
Tom Thomson Gallery
University of Arizona State Gallery
University of Toronto
University of Wyoming Art Museum
Vancouver Art Gallery
Winnipeg Art Gallery
Film and media festivals
2023
imagineNATIVE Film+Media Arts Festival, Centre for Aboriginal Media, Toronto, ON
2019
imagineNATIVE Film+Media Arts Festival, Centre for Aboriginal Media, Toronto, ON
2018
imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, Centre for Aboriginal Media, Toronto ON
2013
imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, Centre for Aboriginal Media, Toronto ON
Art Star 5 Video Biennial, SAW gallery, Ottawa ON
Cold Cuts Video Festival, Dawson City YT
2012
Queer City Cinema 9, Saskatchewan FilmPool Cooperative, Regina SK
UNCP’s Biennial American Indian Art Series, U of North Carolina, Pembroke NC, USA
2010
Vancouver Queer Film Festival, Out on Screen, Vancouver Canada
Terres en Vues, Festival Présence Autochtone, Montréal QC
WNDX, Festival of Moving Image, Winnipeg MB
Sydney Underground Film Festival, the University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Antimatter, Open Space Arts, Victoria Canada
2008
9th imagineNATIVE Film and New Media Festival, Centre for Aboriginal Media, Toronto ON
21st Images Festival, Toronto ON
Aboriginal Film Fest, Kamloops Art Gallery, Kamloops Canada
Regent Park Film Festival, Toronto ON
Edges Film & Video Festival, MediaNet, Victoria Canada
Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin/Madrid, Paris France
Dreamspeakers First Nations Film and Video Festival, Edmonton AB
Vancouver International Film Festival, Cineworks, Vancouver Canada
2007
Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin/Madrid, Paris France
Métis Media Fest, Ottawa ON
2006
Imagine Native: Transmediale Festival for Art and Digital Culture, Berlin,
Six of One, A Half Dozen of the Other, Images Festival of Independent Film and Video, Anthology Film Archives, New York City NY, USA
“Spatial Poetics,” Powell Street Festival, Vancouver Canada
Terres en Vues, Festival Présence Autochtone, Montréal QC
Video de Femmes dans le Parc, Groupe Intervention Video, Montréal QC
2005
Victoria Independent Film & Video Festival, Victoria Canada
Art Star Video Art Biennial, SAW Gallery, Ottawa ON
Microwave International Media Art Festival, Hong Kong, China
IMAGeNation 7th Annual Film & Video Festival, Indigenous Media Arts Group, Vancouver, Canada
Herland Feminist Film and Video Festival, Calgary AB
Reel Femme Film Festival, Edmonton’s Women’s Film Society, Edmonton AB
Guelph International Film Festival, Guelph International Resource Centre, Guelph ON
Terres en Vues, Festival Présence Autochtone, Montréal QC
ImagineNATIVE Film Festival, Centre for Aboriginal Media, Toronto ON
Tallgrass Film Festival, Wichita KS, USA
2004
Herland Feminist Film and Video Festival, Calgary AB
ImagineNATIVE Film Festival, Centre for Aboriginal Media, Toronto ON
Reconstructing Canada Program, Northern Travelling Film Festival Russia, Canadian Cultural Embassy, Moscow, Russia
IMAGeNation Annual Film & Video Festival, Indigenous Media Arts Group, Vancouver, Canada
Terres en Vues, Festival Présence Autochtone, Montréal QC
Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin, Paris France
Rim Shots Media Arts Festival, Cineworks, Vancouver Canada
2003
ImagineNATIVE Film Festival, Centre for Aboriginal Media, Toronto ON
Winnipeg Aboriginal Film and Video Festival, Winnipeg MB
WRO Media Art Biennale, Wroclaw, Poland
2002
4th Biannual Queer City Cinema, Saskatchewan FilmPool Cooperative, Regina SK
Herland Feminist Film and Video Festival, Calgary AB
Terres en Vues, Festival Présence Autochtone, Montréal QC
“Stealing to Subvert,” New Forms Festival, Vancouver Canada
2001
14th Annual Images Film Festival, Toronto ON
Herland Feminist Film and Video Festival, Calgary AB
ImagineNATIVE Film Festival 2001 and Tour, Centre for Aboriginal Media, Toronto ON
WIAM’s 12th annual One World Film Festival, Ottawa ON
Toronto International Art Fair, Toronto ON
2000
The Feminine in Indigenous Film and Video, the First Annual Iskwew Festival, Winnipeg MB
Film Festival Indian Summer, Staatliche Museen Zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
1999
Tranz-Tech, Toronto International Video Art Biennial, Vtape, Toronto ON
1998
ALL OVER THE MAP, Freewaves’ 6th Festival of New Media Art, Los Angeles CA, USA
IMAGeNation Annual Film & Video Festival, Indigenous Media Arts Group, Vancouver, Canada
1997
Dreamspeakers First Nations Film and Video Festival, Edmonton AB
Biennales
2019
Toronto Biennial of Art, Toronto ON
2011
The Elsewhere, LIVE Bienalle, Western Front, Vancouver Canada
2010
Museum of Contemporary Art, The Distance of Beauty Songs of Survival in a Precarious Age, 17th Biennale Sydney, Sydney, Australia
2007
Biennale de Montréal, Crack the Sky, Montréal QC
2006
Musée Malraux, Continuum, Biennale d’art contemporain du Havre, Le Havre, France
Awards and distinctions
2023
Audain Prize for the Visual Arts, recipient.
2022
Melva J. Dwyer Award for the publication The Sioux Project – Tatanka Oyate, recipient.
2020
Scotiabank Photography Award, recipient
Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts, recipient, nominated by Denise Ryner, Director/Curator of the Or Gallery
2019
Hnatyshyn Foundation Mid-Career Award, recipient
YWCA Woman of Distinction Award, Arts, Culture & Design, recipient
2017
bp Nichol Chapbook Award, Above/ground Press. Shortlisted
2016
Mayor’s Award for Art, City of Vancouver, recipient
Scotia Bank Photography Award, longlist, nominated by chief curator of the Vancouver Art Gallery Daina Augaitis
2014
Best Cinematography for “He Who Dreams”. Art film feature Director and Executive
Producer. Presence Autochthone Montreal First Peoples Festival Artistic Innovation
2013
Best Experimental for “He Who Dreams”. Feature Art film. Director and Executive Producer. ImagiNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival, Toronto Ontario.
2012
Artistic Innovation Award. WIFTW (Woman in Film and Television) Vancouver Canada
2007
Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art. Peer assessed granted by the Eiteljorg
Museum for American Indians and Western Art, sponsored by the Ford and Lily Foundations
2006
Outstanding Contribution Aboriginal Screen Culture. Indigenous Media Arts Group, Vancouver Canada. (Blanketed with a Pendleton Wool Blanket).
2005
VIVA Award. Peer assessed awards to given to Vancouver artists from the Jack and Doris Shadbolt Foundation, Vancouver Canada.
2002
Best Multi Media “Ablakela – CDROM of performance work.” ImagiNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival.
1997
Best Experimental in Short Drama for “The Red Paper.” Dreamspeakers First Nations Film and Video Festival.