MONOCHROME: CJ Hendry’s Colorful World
Within a 22,000 square foot industrial space in Brooklyn, artist CJ Hendry has created a seven room interactive experience of color, titled MONOCHROME. This explosive exhibition features seven distinct spaces, each designed to emulate the art on the walls. The art, hyper-realistic drawings by Hendry, depict crumpled Pantone chips. The textural element is essential to the experience, both of the drawings as well as the furniture featured in each room. MONOCHROME was open from Thursday, April 5th to Sunday, April 8th, 2018.
“People generally buy art as the last item, they find art to match their home. I have become close with my collectors over the years and have noticed how differently they live their lives. Art is the first thing they add to a space and they design their entire home around their collection,” said Hendry. “I have taken this concept to an extreme level. Each room has been designed to emulate the art on the wall. The art is the focus, everything matches the art.”
Hendry, an Australian artist, became known for her hyper-realistic black and white pen drawings, often depicting inanimate objects with incredible shadow and light. Last year, Hendry partnered with Christian Louboutin for a colorful exhibition at Art Basel Hong Kong, titled “Complimentary Colors.” Turning to color for the first time, her drawings for the exhibition showed splashes of bright pigment. Now, MONOCHROME is an ambitious next step in her evolution with color.
“Color is exciting and sad and frustrating and confusing. Color is all around us, it’s everywhere,” Hendry explained in a press release. “Color is not a physical thing, it’s a thing that describes something else. By drawing crumpled colored cards I have given color a physicality and form.”
For her second foray into color, Hendry continues to link pigments with emotion.
“I am new to color, not too sure if I understand it yet. Before, when I drew in black ink all the focus was on the object because all the emotion of color was removed. Now I stare at my drawings and feel…just different, I can’t explain it.”
Though the MONOCHROME exhibition has closed, CJ Hendry is an artist to follow, as she is sure to surprise and delight with her next concept.