Cheyney Thompson

Exploring the history, practice, and circulation of painting as his subject, Cheyney Thompson methodically deconstructs how a work is created, revealing historically established perspective systems, subject matters, color codes, and post-studio circulation within a socio-economic context. Thompson frequently uses strict sets of principles in his work, using rules-based systems as generative tools to minimise the subjectivity of creative decisions. Various investigative methods have been employed, ranging from mathematical theories and complex algorithms to economic formulas and numerical color system, leading to an interplay between the formal characteristics of the work and an awareness of its production process.

Cheyney Thompson (Baton Rouge, Louisiana,1975) lives and works in New York. His work has been subject of severals group shows include Walk at Shirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt (2022); Tainted Love / Club Edit at Villa Arson, Nice (2019); Programmed: Rules, Codes, and Choreographies in Art, 1965-2018 at the Whitney Museum, New York (2019); Low Form. Imaginaries and Visions in the Age of Artificial Intelligence at MAXXI, Rome (2018); Collected by Thea Westreich Wagner and Ethan Wagner at the Whitney Museum, New York (2015) and Une Histoire. Art, architecture et design des annees 80 à aujourd'hui, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2014).

Cheyney Thompson had a survey exhibition at the MIT List Visual Arts Center, Massachusetts (2012) with an accompanying monograph and a solo exhibition at Kunstverein Braunschweig (2012). His work was included in the 2008 Whitney Biennial as well as the 2003 Venice Biennale, curated by Francesco Bonami.

His work is part of collections such as Centre Pompidou, Paris; MoMA, New York; SFMOMA, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.