Canadian, Born 26 February 1976, Edmonton, Alberta.

Brenda Draney is Cree from Sawridge First Nation, Treaty 8, with a strong connection to Slave Lake. Draney’s work is collected and shown across Canada including the National Gallery of Canada, the Embassy of Canada Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Alberta, the Sobey Collection, and the Shorefast Foundation. She shows in Banff, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, and Ottawa. She won both the 2009 RBC Painting Competition and 2014’s Eldon and Anne Foote Visual Arts Prize in Edmonton and was short listed for the 2016 Sobey Art Award at the National Gallery of Canada. Draney’s work visually represents the moment when vulnerability is exposed, while encouraging the viewer to reject the notion to dominate the void where horror, poignancy, or powerful moments exist. Draney encourages her viewer to face this void head on, but as an empath. She provides enough tools for the viewer to place their own narrative within her typical imaginary spaces.

Exhibitions

2022 “The best stories I know come from late night car rides or kitchen tables,” Brenda Draney and Tanya Lukin Linklater, Catriona Jeffries, Vancouver, BC January 29 - March 5, 2022
2020 “Break,” Solo Show, Deborah Schamoni Gallery, Munich, Germany (August-December)
2020 “Closer,” Group Show, McMichael Canadian Collection, Toronto, ON (March-November)
2019 “Smelling Salts,” Solo Show, Fogo Island Arts, Shorefast, Fogo Island, NL (May-September)
2019 “Medium of Exchange,” Solo Show, Touchstones Nelson Museum, Nelson, BC (June-August)
2019 “Carry Forward,” Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff, Alberta
2018 “Current Terrains,” ImagiNATIVE, A Space Gallery, Toronto, Ontario (September-October)
2018 “This Must Be The Place,” MKG127, Toronto, Ontario (April-September)
2018 “Land Mark,” The Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton (April-October)
2018 “An Assembly of Shapes,” Og2, Oakville Galleries, Toronto, Ontario (June-September)
2018 “13 Ways to Summon Ghosts,” Gordon & Marion Smith Foundation Vancouver, BC, (May-October).
2018 “Belonging to a Place,” Embassy of Canada Art Gallery, Government of Canada, Washington, D.C.
2017/2018 “Carry Forward,” Kitchener-Waterloo Gallery, Waterloo, Ontario.
2017 “Belonging to a Place,” Scrap Metal Gallery, Toronto Ontario
2017 “Maps and Dreams,” Audain Gallery, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC
2016 Sobey Art Awards, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
2015 “Future Station: The 2015 Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art,” Art Gallery of Alberta
2014 “90X90: Celebrating Art in Alberta,” Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton
2013 “Suspend,” RBC New Works Gallery, AGA, Edmonton, Alberta
2013 “Fiction/Non-Fiction,” Esker Foundation, Calgary, Alberta
2013 “Incubator Series” Latitude 53, Edmonton, Alberta
2013 “They Made a Day be a Day Here,” Art Gallery of Grande Prairie
2013 “They Made a Day be a Day Here,” Mendel Art Gallery.
2013 “They Made a Day be a Day Here,” School of Art Gallery.
2012 “Not Forgetting,” Harbourfront Centre, Toronto Ontario
2012 “Fire Destroyer Creator,” Stride Gallery, Calgary, Alberta
2011 “Go Figure,” MKG127, Toronto, Ontario
2010 “Brenda Draney: Hold Still,” Latitude 53, Edmonton, Alberta
2009 RBC Canadian Painting Competition, Power Plant, Toronto, Ontario
2009 RBC Canadian Painting Competition, Musée d’art Contemporain de Montréal, Quebec
2009 “Always Almost: Master of Applied Arts Graduate Exhibition,” Vancouver, BC
2007 “Elevations,” The Other Gallery, Banff Centre, Banff Alberta

Education

2007-2010 Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Master of Applied Arts (MAA)
2004-2006 University of Alberta, Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)
2004 Grant MacEwan Community College, Alberta, Fine Arts Diploma
2000 University of Alberta, Bachelor of Arts, English Literature.