Born in Livonia, Michigan, Dana Schutz studied at the Cleveland Institute of Art before completing her MFA at Columbia University in 2002. She gained early critical attention for her inventive approach to figurative painting, which often blends traditional portraiture with distorted, expressive forms.

Schutz works primarily in oil on canvas, utilizing thick, impasto brushwork to depict scenes that range from the absurd to the uncanny. Her thematic focus often centers on the human condition, social dynamics, and the act of painting itself, frequently employing a vivid, saturated color palette.

Her work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions at major institutions, including the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. She continues to be a prominent figure in the contemporary art scene, with her paintings held in the permanent collections of major museums worldwide.