Cheyney Thompson

Cheyney Thompson (Baton Rouge, Louisiana,1975) lives and works in New York. 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's work has been featured in multiple solo exhibitions such as L’écorché at Campoli Presti in Paris (2021); To these Arcs, Those Colors Measure This Touch, That Time at Ordet in Milan (2020); Cheyney Thompson, organised by Campoli Presti at Villa di Geggiano in Siena (2021); Hôtel Le Lièvre #6 with Kevin Jerome Everson at Campoli Presti in Paris (2021); Toolpaths for Bellona at Campoli Presti in London (2021); Toolpaths for Bellona at Campoli Presti in Paris (2021).

His work has been included in several group shows, most recently Inaugural exhibition at The Campus in Claverack, NY (2024); Between Pixel and Pigment. Hybrid painting in post-digital times at Marta Herford Museum and Kunsthalle Bielefeld in Germany (2024); For what it’s worth, Value Systems in Art Since 1960 at The Warehouse in Dallas (2024); Intersection at Charles Riva Collection in Brussels (2023); Walk! at Shirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt (2022); Drawing at Glaston in NY (2020); Tainted Love / Club Edit at Villa Arson in Nice (2019); Self Portrait with Visor at Campoli Presti in Paris (2019); Programmed: Rules, Codes, and Choreographies in Art, 1965-2018 at the Whitney Museum in NY (2018); Low Form. Imaginaries and Visions in the Age of Artificial Intelligence at MAXXI in Rome (2018); Plages at Campoli Presti in London (2017); Collected by Thea Westreich Wagner and Ethan Wagner at the Whitney Museum in NY (2015); Une Histoire. Art, architecture et design des années 80 à aujourd'hui at Centre Pompidou in Paris (2014).

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, NY; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.