Indian Country

The Art of David Bradley

"My paintings are socio-political statements. Because of their history and their current problems, Indian people are political by definition. I perceive myself both as an artist and an Indian rights activist, inviting collectors and art lovers to reconsider history and contemporary society."- David Bradley

Reviews

“My art is about my life,” says David Bradley, who was born in Eureka, California, to a white logger father and a mother who was a member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. Though his childhood was challenging, his artistic talent blossomed early, and the two years he spent in the Peace Corps in Guatemala introduced him to folk art’s vivid colors and social consciousness. His identity as an artist living in two worlds deepened after he enrolled at the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe, in the late 1970s. Bradley’s lively paintings reward close attention, revealing his sense of irony and enough humor to make you laugh out loud. But ultimately, he says, he looks to the land for inspiration: “The landscapes and the earth speak so loudly to me here. If I have a problem, I just step outside and am awed by what I see all around me.”
-High Country News