René Kemp (b. 1982, Cologne, Germany) lives and works in Cologne, Germany. He graduated from the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in 2016, where he studied with Professor Marcel Odenbach.
René Kemp’s practice spans painting, drawing, collage, and textile-based works, often combining these media with text fragments, cultural references, and found materials. His paintings frequently depict close-up views of architectural surfaces such as bricks, stones, or slate. These works explore the interplay between realism and abstraction, creating scenes that are both familiar and subtly disorienting. In other series, Kemp presents unpainted canvases with sewn-in pockets resembling formal attire, engaging with themes of presentation and identity. His work navigates a space between sincerity and irony, inviting reflection on the nuances of everyday visual experience.
He has presented two solo exhibitions at Galerie Khoshbakht: Tip Jar Mud Flap (2025, New York City) and Love Colder Than Death (Wall Pieces) (2022, Cologne). Other recent solo and two-person exhibitions include Interrobang 11232, New York City (2025); Mai 36 Galerie, Zurich (2021); and Zarinbal Khoshbakht, Cologne (2020). The gallery also presented his work in the group exhibitions Portrait and Portrait II, held in Cologne and New York City in 2025. Further group exhibitions include Villa Massimo, Italy (2025); LORE Deutz, Cologne (2023); Exhibition A, New York City (2023); and Kunstverein Wilhelmshöhe, Ettlingen (2022). In 2025, Kemp was awarded the Villa Serpentara Fellowship in Rome.
Works
Dry Painting 1 (Vigilance), 2022, Raw linen and used book, 140 x 150 cm
Dry Painting 2 (Soft Machine), 2024, Raw linen and used book, 180 x 120 cm
Dry Painting 4 (Helpless At Last), 2024, Raw linen and used book, 100 x 80 cm
Wall piece #1 (The Flaneur), 2022, Oil on linen, 40 x 30 cm
Wall piece #12 (Sublime Fun For Agnostics), 2022, Oil on canvas, 36 x 27 cm
Wall piece #29 (Panama), 2024, Oil on canvas, 49 x 38 cm
Wall piece #24 (Concrete And Paint Quartet), 2024, Oil on canvas, 50 x 39 cm
Wall piece #30 (Ugh! Give Me Any Other Century), 2024, Oil on canvas, 50 x 39 cm
Wall piece #31 (Untitled), 2024, Oil on canvas, 53 x 42 cm
Wall piece #25 (Marker Of Limits), 2024, Oil on canvas, 43 x 33 cm
Wall piece #20 (My Rabbi Never Heard Of Him), 2023, Oil on canvas, 35 x 30 cm
Wall piece #5 (Love Colder Than Death), 2022, Oil on linen, 60 x 50 cm
Wall piece #11 (I Believe In Stone), 2023, Oil on canvas, 24 x 30 cm
Portrait Of The Artist As Nervous Wreck, 2022, Relief print, stamp on paper, 31 x 38.5 cm
Exhibitions
Press
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