Brenda DraneyDrink from the river
Past exhibition
Brenda Draney Drink from the river
About the Exhibition
Drawing from complex memories and an evolving sense of identity, Brenda Draney (b. 1976) paints narrative canvases marked by economical brushstrokes and expanses of white space. In Drink from the river, her first solo exhibition in the United States, Draney portrays scenes of daily life, along with those of singular events, that she leaves open-ended or unspecified. The cumulative portrait that emerges references a collective self that encompasses not only her own experience but that of past generations and current community members. Recurring and recognizable motifs of specific figures, pieces of furniture, or architectural features, alongside more generalized joyful and traumatic encounters leave Draney’s oeuvre open to association and to individual connection.
Drink from the River was initiated, organized, and circulated by The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, in collaboration with the Arts Club of Chicago; and the Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, with support from the Canada Council for the Arts. The exhibition was curated by Janine Mileaf, Executive Director and Chief Curator, for the Chicago presentation.
Catalogues from the exhibition can be purchased in the Arts Club of Chicago online shop.
About the Artist
Draney is Cree from Sawridge First Nation, situated by the town of Slave Lake, Alberta, Canada. Her practice is based on her experiences and the relationships formed between her current hometown of Edmonton and the northern community of Slave Lake, where she was raised.
