C. Finley

This was a project where 75 women artists came together to celebrate women and women artists. C. Finley took part in curating the show. This project is one of the things that C. Finley is best known for. She even has a work of her own as a part of the project. Mickalene Thomas describes the show as follows, “The Whitney Houston Biennial serves as an important platform with which to explore the richness and diversity of contemporary female artists. Through its witty and intelligent programming, the event is a worthy counterweight to the multitude of festivals, biennials and fairs that populate the art calendar. This is fresh, necessary and trans-formative discourse — of which I am happy to support.”[4]

"Artist C. Finley has been wallpapering dumpsters for nearly 10 years. Based in New York and Rome, she's beautified close to 50 of the bulky, utilitarian and typically boring-looking objects in 14 cities, including Vienna, Paris, Berlin, Dublin and San Francisco."[3] She describes her beautifying of dumpsters as environmental activism.[3]

The Divine Distractions is C. Finely's first solo exhibition in Los Angeles where she shows large scale geometric artworks. "In addition to the show, C. Finley will take to the streets of downtown LA with her internationally acclaimed Wallpaper Dumpster Project to create an urban intervention by transforming environmental activism into unexpected beauty."[5] The show took place from March 31- April 4, 2015.[5] "The show will extend from the walls of Superchief Gallery, spilling out the front door into the downtown L.A. neighborhood where the artist will alter the most overlooked, and undesirable but necessary object – the trash dumpster."[5]

"C. Finley debuts Same Bed, Different Dreams, a cycle of large scale paintings in dialogue with the universal nature of dreaming and the human desire to understand and order the meaning of dreams. Each canvas is proportional to a mattress set-single, full, queen, or king with corresponding pillows-and responds to the progression of the zodiac, using the elements of each sign to guide the composition. On their multicolored surfaces, various systems of symbols converge and are woven together, echoing the seemingly esoteric and illusory montage of our dreams. Shifted vertically onto the wall, the shape of each canvas bed becomes a supernatural portal to the mystical visions embodied in dreams."[6] This exhibition took place at La MaMa La Galleria October 15- November 4, 2016.[6]

"Furnish is a public art project which consists of a dance performance on sculptural objects and customized furniture. After the performance/intervention, the art objects- which include but are not limited to, sculpture, customized design furniture, and original painting- will be left for the public to take, free of charge."[1] The piece was performed in Vienna, Venice Beach, New York City, and Basel.

The performance in New York City took place in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Other artists participating in that performance included movement director Katherine Helen Fisher and collaborator artists Sandy Buskin, Joe Chappel, Otis Cook, Daniel Flores, Luke Forbes, Jennifer Harmer, Natalie Lamonte, Luke Miller, Manelich Minniefee, and Shakirah Stewart. Pamela Giaroli filmed the performance, which was edited by Shimmy Boyle.

In spring 2018, C. Finley created a mural in downtown Houston featuring Houston Ballet dancers Mónica Gómez, Nozomi Iijima, and Allison Miller. The dancers are rendered in Finley's signature colorful, geometric style against a sky blue background. The project was created in collaboration with the WEDGE Group and Houston Downtown Management District (Downtown District) and its Art Blocks initiative. The mural measures 130' high by 230' wide, and is the largest in Houston. It was C. Finley's largest public art commission at the time.[7] [8][9]