Brenda Draney (b. 1976, member of Sawridge First Nation, Treaty 8; lives/works in Edmonton) proposes painting as a reciprocal relationship between a viewer and artwork. Dream-like, her paintings present a tension between representational specificity and the space of unpainted canvas. Rather than simply represent what has been seen, she renders that which is unsaid or what is unable to be articulated.
Draney’s recent notable exhibitions include The Arts Club of Chicago (2023); The Power Plant, Toronto (2022); McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Vaughn, ON (2020); NS-Dokumentationszentrum, Munich (2019); Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff (2019); Fogo Island Arts, NL (2019); Oakville Galleries, ON (2018); Kitchener-Waterloo Gallery, ON (2017); Audain Gallery, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver (2017); National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (2016); The Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton (2015); and Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon (2013). She received her Master’s of Applied Arts from Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver (2010) and her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from the University of Alberta, Edmonton (2006). Draney was shortlisted for the Sobey Art Award in 2016, the recipient of the Eldon and Anne Foote Visual Arts Prize, Edmonton, in 2014, and the winner of the RBC Painting Competition in 2009.