Demian DinéYazhi'
Demian DinéYazhi’ is a Portland, Oregon-based Diné transdisciplinary artist, writer and curator born to the clans Naasht’ézhí Tábaahá (Zuni Clan Water’s Edge) and Tódích’íí’nii (Bitter Water). They are the founder of Radical Indigenous Survivance & Empowerment (R.I.S.E.), an activist initiative dedicated to amplifying Indigenous culture. They have exhibited at the Hessel Museum of Art, Honolulu Biennial (Hawaiʻi), Biennale of Sydney (Australia), Vielmetter Los Angeles, Wexner Center for the Arts at The Ohio State University, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington, Pioneer Works (Brooklyn, New York), and CANADA (New York City). They are the author of Ancestral Memory, An Infected Sunset, and We Left Them Nothing. DinéYazhi´ received their BFA in Intermedia Arts from the Pacific Northwest College of Art.
DinéYazhi’’s work highlights the intersections of Radical Indigenous Queer Feminist ideology while challenging the white noise of contemporary art. Their work refuses colonial and professional etiquette while interrogating the irresponsible state of the Arts Industrial Complex. They work in multiple mediums, from glowing neon signs and letterpress posters inspired by social media posts to self-published books created with BIPOC communities, to endurance performances and sound collaborations that unsettle remnants of colonial assimilative conditioning stored in the body. This approach honors ancestral traditions of survivance, migration and revolutionary histories tied to the resiliency of Indigenous, Trans, Two-Spirit and Queer communities.
Exhibitions
Exhibition: Between Fires – Irradiated Imaginations & Anti-Nuclear Solidarities
Curated by Fabienne Rachmadiev, the exhibition traces the intertwined histories of nuclear infrastructures, colonialism and resistance, presented in collaboration with Sonic Acts
Agenda