You'll know her as the artist who dipped Marty McFly’s sneakers in black paint, her interplanetary talent for photorealistic pencil drawings of ordinary items (there’s one particularly euphoric drawing of a worn-in pair of RMs that’ll bring a tear to your eye), and the fact that Jay-Z and Kanye West have her work in their private collections (true story).
A Brisbanite who went off chasing glory in the cutthroat world of the New York art scene, the past few years have seen Hendry's extraordinary works explode onto the art scene. More recent exhibitions have ranged from Pantone paint swatches and paint splashes—her piece 'Red' famously took up an enourmous billboard in LA's downtown—, an exclusive collab with Christian Louboutin where shoes were cast into coloured crayons, hyperreal Polaroid drawings courtesy of Andy Warhol, and her largest exhibition to date entitled ‘Monochrome’ was a feast of pantone colours displayed across seven rooms in a Brooklyn warehouse.
And now, finally, she's announced on her social media channels that she'll be bringing her incredible talent to Brisbane in 2021. Details are pretty slim, but we do know that the exhibition is happening from 21–23 May, and after a bit of sleuthing we're pretty sure it's going down at the John Reid Pavillion at the Brisbane Showgrounds (TBC). The exhibition itself will be dedicated to 'Straya,' with larger versions of Hendry's Aussie slang card game: 420 cards made up of Australian words and phrases. Think 'you beaut,' 'hooroo,' 'dry as a dead dingo's drongo' and other strange, nonsensical things we Australians say.
We hear there's also going to be framed editions of her latest works up for sale—clear street signs that change words depending on how you look at them. You'll defs need some dosh for those—or at least for some merch.
You can stay up to date on CJ Hendry's website, and we'll see you in the queue on the day.
The details
What: CJ Hendry exhibition
When: 21–23 May
Where: Brisbane
While you wait, check out this dazzling after-dark exhibition.
Image credit: CJ Hendry