Cindy Phenix (b. 1989, Montreal) lives and works in Los Angeles. Phenix received an MFA in Art Theory and Practice at Northwestern University in Evanston in 2020 and a BFA with distinction from Concordia University in Montreal in 2016. Phenix’s works have been included in solo exhibition at Victoria Miro Gallery, London & Venice; Nino Mier Gallery, Los Angeles, New York & Brussels; Galerie Hugues Charbonneau, Montreal; and Maison de la culture de Longueuil, Longueuil. Group exhibitions include Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA; Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL; Julius Caesar, Chicago, IL; Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, CA; Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, CA; Stewart Hall Art Gallery, Montreal, CA among others. Phenix’s works are included in the collections of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, the Caisse de dépôt et de placement du Quebec, BLG, and Hydro-Québec.
Cindy Phenix works across a multitude of mediums including painting, drawing, and sculpture utilizing a reciprocity of abstraction and figuration to convey complex narratives aimed to deconstruct the hierarchical power structures that govern society and social conduct. Navigating the tenuous relationship between the public and private, Phenix’s subject matter is regularly informed by participatory discussions through which the artist explores and brings awareness to shared experiences. Phenix’s works develop these discussions further by prompting viewers to freely associate meaning from fragmented figuration, intentional ambiguity, and untouched raw materials. Relationships between Phenix’s figures shift effortlessly from contentious to caring in accordance with varied personal perspectives. Monstrous characters, with mutable bodies undefined by gender, appear throughout Phenix’s compositions in defiance of socially constructed systems of power that have historically limited society. Appearing to piece themselves together from aggregated paint gestures, these monsters become figures of power and personal freedom through their abjection.