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 including Intervals at Lisson Gallery, Beijing (2023); Intervals and Displacements at Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York (2022); Several Bellonas at Lisson Gallery, New York (2022); L’écorché at Campoli Presti, Paris (2021); To these Arcs, Those Colors Measure This Touch, That Time at Ordet, Milan (2020); Cheyney Thompson, organised by Campoli Presti at Villa di Geggiano, Siena (2021); Hôtel Le Lièvre #6 with Kevin Jerome Everson at Campoli Presti, Paris (2021); Toolpaths for Bellona at Campoli Presti, London (2021); Displacements and Dead Trees, Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York (with Eileen Quinlan) (2020); Sam Lewitt/Cheyney Thompson, The Brno House of Arts, Brno, Czechia (2017); Cheyney Thompson The Completed Reference: Pedestals and Drunken Walks, Kunstverein Braunschweig, Germany (2012); Cheyney Thompson: metric, pedestal, landlord, cabengo, recit, curated by João Ribas, MIT Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts (2012).

His work has been included in several group shows, most recently R U STILL PAINTING??? at RRASP 520 8th Ave, New York (2025); 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, Germany (2024); For what it’s worth, Value Systems in Art Since 1960 at The Warehouse, Dallas (2024); Intersection at Charles Riva Collection, Brussels (2023); Walk! at Shirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt (2022); Drawing at Glaston, New-York (2020); Tainted Love / Club Edit at Villa Arson, Nice (2019); Self Portrait with Visor at Campoli Presti, Paris (2019); Programmed: Rules, Codes, and Choreographies in Art, 1965-2018 at the Whitney Museum, New-York (2018); 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); Une Histoire. Art, architecture et design des années 80 à aujourd’hui at Centre Pompidou, Paris (2014).

His work is part of collections including 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.