Known for her expansive multidisciplinary approach to art making Vancouver-based Dana Claxton, who is Hunkpapa Lakota (Sioux), has investigated notions of Indigenous identity, beauty, gender and the body, as well as broader social and political issues through a practice which encompasses photography, film, video and performance.

Rooted in contemporary art strategies, her practice critiques the representations of Indigenous people that circulate in art, literature and popular culture in general. In doing so, Claxton regularly combines Lakota traditions with Western influences, using a powerful and emotive mix, meld and mash approach to address the oppressive legacies of colonialism and to articulate Indigenous world views, histories and spirituality.

This timely catalogue is the first monograph to examine the full breadth and scope of Claxtons practice. It is extensively illustrated and includes essays by Claxtons colleague Jaleh Mansoor, Associate Professor in the Department of Art History, Visual Art & Theory at the University of British Columbia; Monika Kin Gagnon, Professor in the Communications Department at Concordia University, who has followed Claxtons work for 25 years; Olivia Michiko Gagnon, a New Yorkbased scholar and doctoral student in Performance Studies; and Grant Arnold, Audain Curator of British Columbia Art at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

This exhibition is presented by the Vancouver Art Gallery: October 27, 2018 – February 3, 2019.

Essays by Grant Arnold, Monika Kin Gagnon,Olivia Michiko Gagnon and Jaleh Mansoor

160 pages
8.75 x 10.5inches
ISBN 9781773270500
Hardcover
Vancouver Art Gallery and Figure 1 Publishing
2018