CJ Hendry is transforming a Nevada ranch into an extravagant Vegas-style pool party. With a 50-meter-long pool adorned with whimsical floats, the artist is drawing attention to the vivacity of Las Vegas and the duality of the desert.
Public Pool, the vibrant pool party installation against the desert backdrop, is on view through April 7, sparking joy and wonder. In addition to experiencing the opulent installation, viewers can acquire a selection of Hendry’s limited-edition drawings, and many pool-themed items such as beach towels, floaties, sunscreen, totes, hats, and t-shirts as souvenirs from the show.
Hendry is known for her stimulating immersive exhibitions that attract huge crowds. She commenced her career creating large-scale black and white hyper-realistic drawings depicting contemporary material culture.
Around 2015, after reaching a considerable number of followers on Instagram, Hendry started receiving commissions from celebrities and private collectors. Works such as Kenya West’s face on a crumpled $100 bill, and a pair of gloves for the boxing legend Floyd Mayweather were among the pieces that marked the onset of her long list of commissions.
In 2017, Hendry made an artistic collaboration with the French fashion house Christian Louboutin, which allowed her to explore color for the first time. A year later, for her exhibition Monochrome in Brooklyn, Hendry built an entire home inside an old warehouse. Each room was saturated in a single color, for example, a bathroom covered in pink from floor to ceiling complete with a pink tub overflowing with pink teddy bears.
For her exhibition Rorschach, Hendry designed a giant bouncy maze. She referred to her work as “a psych ward mimicked as a children’s wonderland”. Her hyper-realistic drawings at the show referenced the visual Rorschach psychological test.
Working together with the City of Miami, the artist installed her first permanent public artwork, a 20-foot-tall tree sculpture, by the water for the return of Art Basel Miami Beach in 2023. The cobalt blue tree, Hoops, with 34 basketball hoops, came with a prize of $1 million cash for anyone who recorded 34 consecutive shots.
With her celebrity clientele, Cj’s waitlist now exceeds 3,000 collectors, anticipating waiting up to five years to acquire commissioned artwork.
