Dana Claxton facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dana Claxton
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Title wall of Dana Claxton: Spark Solo Exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art, 2024
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| Born | 1959 (age 65–66) Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada
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| Nationality | Hunkpapa Lakota |
| Known for | Film, performance, and photography |
Dana Claxton (born 1959) is a talented artist from the Hunkpapa Lakota nation. She creates amazing art using film, photography, and live performances. Her work often explores common ideas (or stereotypes) about Indigenous people, especially First Nations in Canada. She also looks at their history and how they are seen in society. In 2007, she won a special award called the Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art for her art.
Contents
About Dana Claxton
Her Family and Early Life
Dana Claxton's family has a special history. They are descendants of Sitting Bull's followers. These followers escaped the U.S. Army in 1876 after the Battle of the Little Bighorn. They found safety by moving to Canada.
Dana grew up in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, as the youngest of four children. Her family's reserve is called Wood Mountain Lakota First Nation. It is located in Southwest Saskatchewan.
Teaching and TV Work
Dana Claxton helped start the Indigenous Media Arts Group. She has also taught art at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver. In 2003, she taught journalism at the University of Regina. Later, in 2010, she was a special professor at Simon Fraser University.
She has worked with many Canadian and First Nations groups. These include the National Film Board of Canada and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. She directed and produced 52 episodes of Wakanheja. This was a children's TV show focused on First Nations culture. She also made 26 episodes of ArtZone, an art show for teenagers. Dana also produced First Stories-VTV, a show about Indigenous people in Vancouver.
Life Today
When Dana Claxton is not making art, she is very busy. She joins discussions about art and helps choose art for shows. She also guides and supports young artists. Dana lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. She is a professor at the University of British Columbia. Before this, she studied acting in New York City.
Dana Claxton's Art
Dana Claxton uses her own views to explore Indigenous issues. She looks at how colonization has affected people. Her art also explores ideas about body image, beauty, and politics. She examines how Native symbols are used in popular culture. Through videos, photos, and special projects, Dana mixes traditional experiences with modern life.
Video Art Projects
Dana Claxton started making video art in the early 1990s. In works like Grant Her Restitution (1991), she explored how colonialism affected Canadian women. Starting with The Red Paper in 1996, she wanted to "bring spirit into the gallery space." She mixes traditional Lakota spiritual objects with modern settings.
Her many video projects have been shown in over 15 countries.
Powerful Photography
On to the Red Road
In her series On to the Red Road (2006), Dana Claxton uses five photos. These photos explore ideas about being a woman and clothing.
Paint Up
Paint Up (2009) shows portraits of Joseph Paul. He is a ceremonial Salish Black Face dancer and Pow-wow dancer. He lives on the Musqueam Indian Reserve. These large, colorful photos show Paul with his face painted. They are described as "striking" and "challenging" modern life.
Mustang Suite
Newer works like the Mustang Suite explore what "Indianess" means. They look at stereotypes, especially related to Black Elk's vision of the Horse Dance. These large photos are called C-prints. The mustang horse represents freedom. But it's not always shown as a horse.
- Daddy's Gotta New Ride shows an Indigenous man in a suit. He has face paint and braided hair. He stands next to a red Ford Mustang.
- Baby Girls Gotta Mustang features twin girls. They wear red dresses and mukluks and ride bicycles.
- Mama Has a Pony Girl…Named History and Sets Her Free shows a medicine woman. A Caucasian woman dances like a burlesque pony girl.
Other photos in the series reflect on the Indigenous community in today's world.
American Indian Movement Photos
Claxton has also focused on the American Indian Movement. This series features large black-and-white photos. They are declassified government documents about this civil rights group. She found these documents in New York City libraries. The documents have many blacked-out words, like other government files from the FBI.
#NotYourPrincess Book
Dana Claxton's photography was in the book #NotYourPrincess Voices of Native American Women (2017). This book was edited by Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale. Claxton said her art piece Onto the Red Road is "about transformation, spirituality, and objectification of Indigenous [women]." When asked what it means to be an "NDN woman," Claxton said it means "care for your family and community with generosity, courage, wisdom, and fortitude."
Important Artworks
Buffalo Bone China
In Buffalo Bone China, Claxton uses performance art, found objects, and video. She explores how First Nations people were affected by British policies. These policies led to the slaughter of American bison. Their bones were crushed and sent to England to make bone china.
In her performance, Claxton smashes pieces of china. She makes four bundles and places them in a sacred circle. A video of buffalo plays in the background. She uses a rubber mallet to break plates and bowls. This shows the loss of the buffalo, which was central to Plains spirituality. Claxton only smashed British bone china.
Buffalo Bone China has been shown in Canada. It was at the MacKenzie Art Gallery in 2009. It was also at the Vancouver Art Gallery from 2018 to 2019.
Sitting Bull and the Moose Jaw Sioux
This artwork was created in 2003. It was shown at the 17th Biennale of Sydney. Sitting Bull and the Moose Jaw Sioux combines scenery, interviews, and images. It looks at how the Moose Jaw camp was founded. This camp was created by Sitting Bull after leaving the United States.
The piece was first asked for by the Moose Jaw Art Gallery. It has four video screens. It also includes old images and interviews from the camp's first residents. There is also footage of the actual site.
Awards and Recognition
Dana Claxton has won several important awards for her art.
- In 2019, the Hnatyshyn Foundation gave her an award. This was for outstanding work by a Canadian artist.
- Also in 2019, Claxton received the YWCA Women of Distinction Award. She won in the Arts, Culture and Design category.
- In 2020, Claxton won the Governor General's Award. This is a very high honor for artistic achievement in visual arts.
Where to See Her Art
Dana Claxton's art is part of many public collections. This means her work is owned by museums and galleries. You can see her art at:
- Canada Council Art Bank
- Colby College Museum of Art, Maine
- Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa
- Vancouver Art Gallery
- Winnipeg Art Gallery
Art Exhibitions
Dana Claxton's art has been shown in many exhibitions around the world. Some of these include:
- Dana Claxton: Spark, 2024, Baltimore Museum of Art
- Time and Tide Flow Wide, 2023, Colby College Museum of Art
- Fringing the Cube, 2018–19, Vancouver Art Gallery
- Solo show, 2010, Biennale of Sydney
- Native Visuality, 2009, C.N. Gorman Museum
- New Work, 2009, University of Lethbridge
- Steeling the Gaze, 2009, National Gallery of Canada
- Solo show, 2007, Montreal Biennale
- Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art, 2007, Eiteljorg Museum
- Solo show, 2006, Biennale d’art contemporain du Havre
- Solo show, 2005, Art Star Biennale
- Gatherings: Aboriginal Art from the Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2004, Guangdong Museum of Art
- Topographies, 1996, Vancouver Art Gallery
