Dana Oldfather was born in Cleveland, Ohio. She is a young self-taught artist who finds herself on an astounding trajectory. Already her work can be found in the collections of Progressive Insurance and the Cleveland Artists’ Foundation among others. She was a critic’s pick on the famed Saatchi Online and a featured artist in the venerable Studio Visit Magazine. She has also exhibited in numerous museums in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.

Oldfather works generally with oil or oil and marker on canvas, board, or linen. As she describes, her abstractions celebrate motion and borrow from past movements. With a focus on youth, identity, and consumism, and by employing contrasting graphic, expressive, and magnified pointillist elements, she attempts to illustrate the impact of natural emotional contradiction. In art she has always tried to connect to the world through beauty. Each work is an attempt to elegantly express the embodiment of paradox; a physical manifestation of conflicting desires communicated in an abstract arrangement of forms.

Oldfather explains that a complete and fulfilled life can be wracked with insecurity. A child can be innocent and silly one moment and entirely serious the next. It is our reality that we do not function with singular absolute emotions. Society, however celebrates these absolutes in individuals. This false importance leads her in her desire to express the beauty of contrasts. Her interest is to demonstrate the hard and soft parts of ourselves, whereby she regards the contradiction as one idea, one complete emotion rather than two. It is the resolution of opposites into a singular new identity, complete in itself, that is important.

commissioned & site specific works are available from each artist; please call the gallery for details.

solo exhibitions

2013     The Butler Institute of American Art,Youngstown, Ohio
2012     William & Dorothy Yeck Award Exhibition, Juried by Irene Hofmann, Heistand Galleries, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
2011     Give Us A Fence and Some Room to Run, Artist in Residence Exhibition, Cleveland, Ohio
2010    Rising Above, eo art lab, Chester, Connecticut
2010    We Are Mountains, William Rupnik Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
2006    Florescence, E. Gordon Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
2004    Dana Oldfather, Michael Stefan Salon, Willoughby, Ohio

group exhibitions

2011     Sweet+Dangerous, Survival Kit Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
2011     12th Annual National Young Painters – Finalist Exhibition, juried by Irene Hofmann, Heistand Galleries, Miami University – Oxford, Ohio
2011     The International Gift Fair – Summer, with Ink Dish – New York, New York
2011     Gallery Artists’ Summer Group Exhibition, The Bonfoey Gallery – Cleveland, Ohio
2011     ArtPrize” Woman’s CIty Club Exhibition Center – Grand Rapids, Michigan
2011     Ohio Governor’s Office and Residence Exhibition – Columbus, Ohio
2011     Synesthesia, eo art lab – Chester, Connecticut
2011     Intersections, Zygote Press – Cleveland, Ohio
2011     The International Gift Fair – Winter, with Ink Dish – New York, New York
2010     The Ties that Bind, eo art lab, Chester, Connecticut
2010     Affordable Art Fair, with eo art lab – New York, New York
2010     Common Purpose, eo art lab – Chester, Connecticut
2010    Abstract Plane – Erik Neff & Dana Oldfather, The Bonfoey Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
2010    2nd Anniversary Show, POVevolving Gallery, Los Angeles, California
2010    Annual Benefit Exhibition and Auction, MOCA Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio
2010    Paint Snob 2010, 500x Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2010    Shared Response, eo art lab, Chester, Connecticut
2010    The Expanding Gesture, Cleveland Clinic Art Exhibition Space, Cleveland, Ohio
2010    Preview Exhibition for Dana Oldfather at William Rupnik Gallery, Lava Lounge, Cleveland, Ohio
2010    11th Annual National Young Painters Competition, Heistand Galleries, Oxford, Ohio
2009    Give and Take, eo art lab, Chester, Connecticut
2009    Frigid Art, Asterisk Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
2009    Erie Prom, Group Invitational Benefit, Spaces Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
2009    Gallery Artists Spring Exhibition, The Bonfoey Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
2009    Anniversary Show, POVevolving Gallery, Los Angeles, California
2009    That is Sooooo Last Year, William Rupnik Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
2009    Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition, Ohio State Fairgrounds, Columbus, Ohio
2009    19- Summer Group Exhibition, Asterisk Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
2009    73rd Annual Mid-Year Competition, The Butler Museum of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio
2009    Works of Art on Paper, Long Beach Island Foundation for the Arts, Loveladies, New Jersey
2009    Art 2009, Highlands Museum of the Arts, Sebring, Florida
2009    National Art Premiere 2009, Elmhurst Artists’ Guild Gallery, Elmhurst, Illinois
2008    Dana Oldfather & Jean Kondo Weigl, Gallery West, Tri-C Western Campus, Cleveland, Ohio
2008    Exurbs: A Collective Environment, The Bonfoey Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
2008    Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition, Ohio State Fairgrounds, Columbus, Ohio
2008    Gallery Artists, The Bennett Street Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
2008    Art at Large Juried Show 2008, Crybaby Art Gallery, Asbury Park, New Jersey
2008    American Summer – 17th Annual National Juried Exhibition, Kingston Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts
2008    51st Annual Chautauqua National Exhibition of American Art, New York City, New York
2008    85th Annual Spring Show, Erie Art Museum, Erie, Pennsylvania
2008    9th Annual National Young Painters Competition, Oxford, Ohio
2007    The ApARTment Juried Exhibition, Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan
2007    Ohio Online Visual Artists Registry Juried Show, Columbus Metropolitan Library, Columbus, Ohio
2007    Exhibit Cleveland – A Retrospective, Wooltex Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
2007    Gallery Artists, Convergence Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2007    Come Closer, Wooltex Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
2006    Sayonara, Closing Gallery Show, E. Gordon Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
2006    Exhibit Cleveland, Corts Building, Cleveland, Ohio
2005    Eat Sugar Spend Money, Newsense Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
2004    50/50 Show, 1300 Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
2004    Dead Horse Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
2003    Holiday Party/No Commission Show, 1300 Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio

publications

Interrupture, Poetry and Art Journal, October, 2011
The Medium is the Message by Joseph Clark, Scene Magazine, page 27. Book 6, Beautiful Decay, September 7, 2011
Featured Artist, Artist-a-Day, Contemporary Art Blog, March 5, 2011
The Abstracted Plane, Scene Magazine, Michael Gill, Cleveland, OH, November 17, 2010
Rising Above, Dana Oldfather, Color photo in the Metropolitan section, The New York Times, New York, NY, October 17, 2010
Gallery Guide, New York, NY, October 2010
Cleveland Gallery Guide, Cleveland, OH 2010-2011 issue
Design Firm Turns Dinnerware Into Works of Art, The New York Times, NY, NY, September 9, 2010
Fairest of the Fair, The Columbus Dispatch, Columbus, OH, August 1, 2010
Cover Art, The Meadow, Art and Literature Journal, May 2010
Douglas Max Utter, Mountaintime, Scene Magazine, April 2010
Dana Oldfather at William Rupnik Gallery, Hello My Name is Art, Cleveland Art Blog, April 2010
Thomas Mulready, Dana Oldfather at WRG, Cool Cleveland, April 2010
Proper Noun of the Week #31, Cleveland Bachelor, April 2010
Featured Artist, Beautiful Decay, February 2010
15 Illustrators/Artists to Watch, Boss Style, February 2010
Featured Artist, pinkEYE, February 2010
Featured Artist, The Best Part, January 2010
Featured Artist, Art Milk, January 2010
Cover Artwork, Redivider, Art and Culture, Fall 2009
Rebecca Wilson, Critic’s Pick, Saatchi Online Art News, August 2009
Michael Gill, Oh, That is Soooooo Last Year at William Rupnik Gallery, Scene Magazine, August 2009
Best of the Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition, Columbus Dispatch Review, August 2009
Downloadable Online Art Zine, Blanket Magazine, August 2009
Douglas Max Utter, Sideswiped, Scene Magazine, July 2009
Opening Night: 19 @ Asterisk Gallery, Hello my Name is Art (Cleveland Art Blog), July 2009
Cover Artwork, Cleveland Magazine’s Gallery Guide, May 2009
Messy Magazine, 2009
Dana Oldfather, A Romance in Lower Mathematics, Hello my Name is Art (Cleveland Art Blog), February 2009
Studio Visit Magazine, 2009
Theresa Bembnister, Capsule Reviews Exurbs: A Collected Environment, Scene Magazine, April 2008
Muse, A Quarterly Journal by the Lit, January 2008
Sara Pearce, Miami Displays Winning Work, Cincinnati Enquirer, January 2008
Zachary Lewis, Come Closer, Scene Magazine, April 2007
Dan Tranberg, Gallery Owner Returns With Show That Focuses on Taking ‘Closer’ Look, Friday! The Plain Dealer, April 2007
Zachary Lewis, Florescence, Scene Magazine, May 2006
Dan Tranberg, Artist’s New Work Focuses on Women, Friday! The Plain Dealer, May 2006
Cover and Featured Artist of the Month, Epitome Magazine, May 2006
Tim Vickers, No Vacancies, Cleveland Magazine, March 2006
Brooke Willis, Art Exhibits, Northern Ohio Live, February 2006
Dan Tranberg, Shedding Sweetness and Light on our Society’s Heavy Subjects, Friday! The Plain
Dealer, August 2005
Being Creative, Dana Oldfather, Being Magazine, 2004
Living, Working, Creating, Builders Exchange, The Magazine, December 2003

awards and prizes

2012    William and Dorothy Yeck Award for Young Painters, Juried by Irene Hofmann, Miami University – Oxford, Ohio
2011     Artist in Residence, Zygote Press, Cleveland, Ohio
2011    Residency, The Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont
2009    Summer Quarter Grant, Working Artist Organization
2008    Second Place Best in Show, 9th Annual National Young Painters Competition, Heistand
Galleries, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
2005    Third Place Best in Show, The Littlest Heroes “Art for Children’s Sake” Juried Show, Elevation Art Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio

public collections

Eaton Corporate Headquarters – Cleveland, Ohio
Miami University - Oxford, Ohio
Vdara Hotel and Spa, Las Vegas, Nevada
Jones Day, Cleveland, Ohio
Omega Laboratories, Mogadore, Ohio
Wendy’s Corporation, Dayton, Ohio
The Progressive Insurance Art Collection, Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland Artists’ Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio
The Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
American Greetings, Cleveland, Ohio
Ohio Desk, Cleveland, Ohio