Allyson Clay


Allyson Clay is a Canadian visual artist, curator, and educator based in Vancouver, B.C.

Life

Clay was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. in 1953, and spent much of her childhood and adolescence in Italy. She obtained a B.F.A. in Painting from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 1980 and an M.F.A. from the University of British Columbia in 1985. She is a professor at the School of the Contemporary Arts at Simon Fraser University.

Artistic practice

Clay has an interdisciplinary artistic practice that encompasses photography, painting, and installation. Her artwork has often examined "the problematic, contradictory nature of contemporary urbanism" through "experiments with conceptual theory and traditional colour." Clay's artistic research draws upon work by feminist writer and scholar Donna Haraway, and American artist Mary Kelly. Clay looks at the role of "women through the city, through the social, and through the history of art making." Her artwork has been exhibited at Canadian galleries including the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Banff Centre for the Arts. Clay is represented by Costin and Klentworth Gallery in Toronto. Clay's work is in several public collections including the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, and the University of Lethbridge Art Gallery. Canadian artist Arnaud Magg's described Clay as one of the best practising artists in Canada.

Selected exhibitions

Clay has received grants from the Canadian Council for the Arts, the BC Arts Council, and the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Residency Program.