About the Artist

(Born 1954) An enrolled member of the Minnesota Chippewa tribe, this painter, printmaker and sculptor earned an Associate of Fine Arts degree from the Institute of American Indian Art as well as his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the College of Santa Fe in 1980. 

David Bradley volunteered for the Peace Corps (1975-1976) in Central America and the Caribbean. Between 1980 and 1990 he exhibited his work with the Elaine Horwitch Galleries.

He has lectured and served as a panelist at several universities. Bradley served as both vice-president and co-founder of the Native American Artists Association. An active individual, Bradley also has participated as a visiting artist/ professor at the Institute of American Indian Arts between 1991 and 1993.

His work serves as painted commentary on life in the Southwest as a contemporary American Indian, one who is politically alert to the ironies we all witness on a daily basis.  He is also a darned good painter whose skill in composing these artistic expressions is entirely admirable.

Solo exhibitions featuring Bradley's work have taken place at the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe (1979-1980); the Judith Stern Gallery in Minneapolis, Minnesota (1980-1981); the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, North Dakota (1991), at the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe (1993, 1996) and more recently at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture in Santa Fe in 2006. Bradley has been chosen as the poster artist this year for upcoming the Heard Museum's Indian Market to take place in February 2008. Socio-politcal commentary is David Bradley's niche in each of the mediums he chooses to use.

Bradley is currently represented by the Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The Art of David Bradley is an exhibit featuring 32 paintings and sculptures by Bradley held at the esteemed Museum of Indian Arts & Culture in Santa Fe, New Mexico Feb, 2015 through 16 January 2016.  A hardbound book titled Indian Country:  The Art of David Bradley written by Valerie Verzuh accompanies the exhibit.