C.V.

MFA — Stanford University, Stanford, CA 2005
BA/BFA — English Literature/ Studio Art Tufts University, Medford, MA and
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, 1991

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024 (Upcoming)
Center For Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, ME

2022
STAGE, Martos Gallery, New York, NY
Talking To The Sun, M. LeBlanc, Chicago, IL
Less Like an Object and More Like the Weather, Neubauer Collegium, Chicago, IL
Sounds, Darren Flock, London, UK

2021
False Hydras, JOAN, Los Angeles, CA
I Would Survive, I could Survive, I Should Survive, Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art , Davis, CA

2019
WORKSHOP, King School Museum of Contemporary Art, Portland, OR

2018
THE BIG DARK w/ Kristan Kennedy, Fourteen 30 Contemporary, Portland, OR
h/S: w/ Sb Fuller, Situations Gallery, NY, NY
New and Recent Work, May 68, Books & Records at Martos Gallery, NY
UNTITLED Artfair, San Francisco, w/ Workshop Residence, San Francisco, CA

2017
CUANDO LOS ENFERMOS GOBIERNAN EL MUNDO (When the Sick Rule the World), Biquini Wax EPS, Mexico City, Mexico
THE STUPIDITY OF BELIEF, Iceberg Projects, Chicago, IL

2016
FOND FAREWELLS, ADA Gallery, Richmond, VA
NOT YET SEEN, Cherry & Lucic, Portland, OR

2015
HEADLESS, Soloway, Brooklyn, NY
VOLTA NY, (solo artfair presentation) w/PDX Contemporary, Pier 90, New York, NY

2014
PUBLIC EVIDENCE SPECTATOR, Sanders Department of Art/Georgia Southern University

2013
WHEN WILL MY LOVE BE RIGHT?, PDX Contemporary, Portland, OR

2012
FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, ΜΕΣ(s)Α Project Space, Portland, OR
HOW TO MAKE MIRRORS, 2nd Floor Projects, San Francisco, CA

2010
DAYDREAM NATION, PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR

2009
THIS QUIET DUST, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
THEM (TREES), Patricia Sweetow Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2007
Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, OR

2006
Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2005
Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France

2004
CCSRE, Stanford, CA

2002
Quotidian Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2001
Debs & Co., New York, NY

2000
Luggage Store, San Francisco, CA

1998
Gallery ESP, San Francisco, CA

1991
San Francisco African and African American Historical Society, CA

Selected Group Exhibitions

2023
Drunk Vs. Stoned 3, The Ranch, Montauk, NY
Daily Pictures, Each Modern, Taipei, TW
Never Say You're Sorry, Curated by Bob Nickas, Public Access, New York, NY
Of Mythic Worlds: Works from the Distant Past through the Present, The Drawing Center, New York, NY
Body Matters, The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY
Black Artists of Oregon, Portland Art Museum, Portland OR

2022
Under Erasure, Martos Gallery, New York, NY
Black & White, Collaborations, Copenhagen, DK
Strange Attractors, The Anthology of Interplanetary Folk Art Vol 3: Lost in Space, Curated by Bob Nickas, Apalazzo Gallery, Brescia, Italy
Making a Mark: Contemporary Drawings, Portland Art Museum. Portland, OR

2021
Lost & Found: Jessica Diamond, Arnold J. Kemp, Kayode Ojo, Arthur Simms, Alexandria Smith, Curated by Bob Nickas, Martos Gallery, NY, NY

2020
Group Exhibition: Sayre Gomez, Arnold J. Kemp, Vincent Larouche, Xavier Robles de Medina, Yves Scherer, and Christine Wang, M. LeBlanc Gallery, Chicago, IL
Mask, Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, New York

2019
We Burn Our Dream Just to Stay Warm, Capital Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2017
Strange Attractors: The Anthology of Interplanetary Folk Art, Vol. 1 Life on Earth, Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA
Starless Midnight, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK
Where Do We Stand?, Two Years of Drawing with Open Sessions, Drawing Center, New York, NY
Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts at 25, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University, Salem, OR
Let Me Be an Object that Screams, Gallery 400, University of Illinois at Chicago, IL

2016
Open Sessions 7: Hibernating Plan, The Drawing Center, New York, NY
About Face, Fine Arts Center Gallery, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AK
Flat Fix, CODE Art Fair, Copenhagen, Denmark

2015
Nassau Calling. Art in the Bahamas [re]-Visited, HilgerBROTKunsthalle, Vienna, Austria
New Dominion, Mixed Greens Gallery, New York, NY
European Ghosts — the representation of art from Africa in the twentieth century, Mu.ZEE, Oostende, Belgium
Key Figures, Adams & Ollman, Portland, OR

2014
The Botanica, Invisible-Exports, New York, NY
The International Invitational Triennial of Contemporary Wind Chimes, Rocksbox Fine Arts, Portland, OR
Page 179, Artforum, September 2013, Brennan & Griffin, NYC, NT

2013
TRANSLATIONS
Hong Kong — Art Walk 2013
April 2013

2011
Here/Now, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
You Can Never Go Home Anymore
, Louis B. James Gallery, NY, NY

2010

Collected. Black & White, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY

A Perverse Library, Shandy Hall, Coxworld, England

Hauntology, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA

Dark: A Show to Winter, Fourteen30 Contemporary, Portland, OR

2009

We Do What We Have to Do: Printed Matter's Award for Artists 2, Printed Matter, NY, NY

Amsterdam Biennale 2009, Mediamatic Bank, The Netherlands

A Sense of Place de Saisset," Museum of Art at Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA

2008

Hyères 2008 Festival, Hyères, France

Dead Serious Group Show, Sister, Los Angeles, CA

In the Fullness of Time, Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Before and After, And/Or Gallery, Dallas, TX

2007

Crooked Mirror, envoy, New York, NY

Space is a Place, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, OR

Refresh (Before and After), Postmasters Gallery, New York, NY

2006

Collection in Context, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY

2005
Poets Theater, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA

2004

Poetry and Its Arts, California Historical Society, San Francisco, CA

Continuities, UC Davis, The Nelson Gallery, Davis, CA
I Love Music, Creative Growth Art Center, Oakland, CA

The Gray Area — Uncertain Images, The Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, CA

Un/Familiar Territory, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA

2003
Rendered, Works on Paper, Sara Meltzer Gallery, New York, NY
I am a Curator, Chisenhale Gallery, London, UK
Real Unreal, Sheppard Fine Arts, Los Vegas, NV

2001
Freestyle, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York City
Freestyle, Santa Monica Museum of Art, Los Angeles
Marked, Hunter College Art Gallery, New York City,

2000
SF Drawing Show, New Image Art, Los Angeles

1998
Bottoms Up, The Lab, San Francisco, CA

1997
Stirred Not Shaken, Refusalon, San Francisco, CA

1996
Luscious, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA

1995
Obsession, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA

1994
Bong, Kiki, San Francisco, CA and Alleged, New York, NY

1993
Science Fair, Southern Exposure
Pop Life, New Langton Arts, San Francisco, CA
Hypothalmic In[queer]ies, San Francisco Camerawork , San Francisco, CA

Selected Performances & Lectures

2023
Visiting Artist Lecture, Boston University, Boston, MA
Mellon Archives Innovation Program series, Johnson Publishing Library, Rebuild Foundation, Chicago, IL

2021
Visiting Artist Lecture, UC Davis, Davis, CA

2019
CAA Conference Distinguished Artist Interview, in conversation with Huey Copeland, Chicago,IL
Visiting Artist Lecture, PNCA, Portland, OR

2018
Vermont Studio Center, Visiting Artist, Johnson VT

2017
February 14, Biquini Wax EPS, Mexico City, Mexico
February 14, Acre Residency, Steuben, Wisconsin
WAITINGCranbrook Academy of Art Lecture Series, Bloomfield Hills, MI
16 Lectures on 16 Wars, Comfort Station, Chicago, IL

2016
NOT YET SEEN: WE REVEAL A HAND THAT HAS YET TO REVEL US, Stimulus Packages – Summer Symposium, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA

2014
IN THE LAST MINUTE OF BEING BLACK, Baanf Centre, Baanf, Canada
IN THE LAST MINUTE OF BEING BLACK, Pacific Northwest College of Arts
IN THE LAST MINUTE OF BEING BLACK, Sanders Department of Art/Georgia Southern University

2013
IN Arms, PDX Contemporary, Portland, OR

2011
FIRE AND ICE (BLACK PRISM REMIX), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Safety In Number: Images of African American Identity and Community, Performative lecture, Portland Art Museum

2010
TANGENT READING SERIES, Portland, OR
REARRANGUTAN, Pacific Northwest College of the Arts, Portland, OR

2009
IN THE SUN READING, at home of David Buuck, Oakland, CA

2008
INARMS, California College of the Arts, Sa Francisco CA, produced by Small Press Traffic

2006
THE GIRL IN THE PARK, California College of the Arts, produced by Small Press Traffic

2005
Solo – Portland State University, Portland, OR

2003
Commonwealth Club of California: Bay Area Art Scene; Featuring Doug Hall, Matthew Higgs, Arnold J. Kemp, Heather Marx, and Themis Michos

Select Public and Private Collections

The University of California Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The Nelson Gallery and Fine Art Collection at the University of California, Davis
The Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma WA
JP Morgan Chase Art Program, New York
Thorn EMI, Inc., Boston
Kika Borghese, Rena Bransten, Dr. Austin Conkey,
Nick Debs, Ann M. Hatch, Judy Moran, Sarah Miegs

Grants, Awards, Residencies

2023
The Poor Farm: Living in the Play, ICARTS, Umbria, Italy

2022
Ellis-Beauregard Foundation Fellowship in the Visual Arts, Maine

2020
Recipient, The Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant for Forthcoming Article, “Who is this black, queer curator? If you don’t remember it and do him, his last name is McShine.”

2018
Artist, Workshop Residence, San Francisco, CA

2017
Visiting Artist, ACRE, Steuben, WI

2016
Visiting Artist, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
Artist in Residence, San Francisco Art Institute, CA

2015
CentralTrak Visiting Artist, UT Dallas, TX
Artist in Residence, Black Iris Gallery, Richmond VA

2014
Artist in Residence, Pacific Northwest College of the Arts/Caldera Center for the Arts
Artist in Residence, BAANF Centre

2012
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship
Fund For Art Investigation and Research Award, PNCA
Golden Spot Residency, Crow's Shadow

2011
Vermont Studio Center, visiting artist residency

2009
Art Matters Grant
Printed Matter Award for Artists 2009

2005
Cite International Des Arts, Paris Residency

2003
Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant

2001
Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship
The ArtCouncil Grant

1993
Pen Writers Grant

1991
Tufts University Poetry Prize

1989
Academy of American Poets Prize

Selected Publications

2022
In Arms, Single act play, Published by M. LeBlanc

2021
February 14, Single act play, Published by M. LeBlanc

2012
The Bearden Project, the Studio Museum in Harlem, 2012, Catalogue

2010
Re:collection: selected works from the Studio Museum in Harlem, Catalogue

2001
Freestyle Catalog, Studio Museum in Harlem

Artists Writings, Books, Editions

2021
“A Questionnaire on Decolonization,” October, Fall 2020, 62-63.

2020
“Profile: Kerry James Marshall,” Spike Art Magazine #62, Winter 2020.
“A Poets Theater Tribute to Kevin Killian,” TRIPWIRE 16 — A Journal of Poetics, 2020, 115-116.

2018
“Kynaston McShine (1935-2018)”, Texte Zur Kunst, issue no. 110 - Performance Evaluation, June 2018.
“Situations,” The Poetry Project Newsletter #255 - From Our Hearts to Yours: New Narrative as Contemporary Practice, eds. Rob Halpern & Robin Tremblay-McGaw, review by Erica Kaufman, April / May 2018.

2016
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 360°: Views on the Collection, edited by Judy Bloch and Suzanne Stein, 2016.

2014
“A Girl in the Park,” TRIPWIRE 7 — A Journal of Poetics, 2014, 163-164.

2011
“One on One: Arnold J. Kemp on Sargent Johnson’s Forever Free,” SFMOMA Impermanent Collection (Online), January 31, 2011.
"Fucking James Franco, (under the pen name Arnonymous Poet)," Fucking James Franco, 2011, 73-76.
Fire and Ice (Black Prism Remix), chapbook, by Publication Studios
The Art of Losing: Poems of Grief and Healing, edited by Kevin Young

2009
Surface Space Prosthetic by Publication Studio

2004
Nocturne, edited by Giovanni Singleton

2001
Art Journal, edited by Michelle Lee White
Nocturne, edited by Giovanni Singleton

2000
STEP INTO A WORLD, edited by Kevin Powell for John Wiley and Sons

1998
Spirit and Image, by Arnold J. Kemp

1997
Touch (CD), by Southern Exposure

1996
Merry Christmas, Baby by Harper Collins

1995
River Styx , by Quincy Troupe

1994
Mirage #4/ Period(ical), by Kevin Killian and Dodie Bellamy

1994
On the Verge, by Faber & Faber

1993
Agni Review, by Boston University

1992
Callaloo, by John Hopkins University

1991
Callaloo, by John Hopkins University

1990
Three Rivers Poetry Journal, by Carnegie Mellon University

Selected Shows Curated

2012
Xylor Jane and B. Wurtz, The Feldman Gallery/PNCA, Portland, OR

2011
Kevin Jerome Everson and Adoma Owusu, The Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco

2003
5ive Projects: Contemporary Art from Sweden, Yerba Bunea Center for the Art
Bay Area Now 3, Yerba Bunea Center for the Art

2002
Slowdive, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

2001
Rapper's Delight, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Laylah Ali, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

2000
Tracey Moffat, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Above and Beyond, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

1999
Beholding Beauty, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek
Bay Area Now II, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, with Renny Pritikin and René De Guzman

1998
Mark Dion,: Where the Land Meets the Sea, Yerba Buena Center of the Arts Needles and Pins, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

1997
Ladies of the News, Center for the Arts Yerba Buena Gardens
Bay Area Now, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, with Renny Pritikin and René De Guzman
Organically Grown, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Heavy Petting: Drawing on Queer Practice, Queer Arts Resource —
http://www.queer-arts.com

1996
Beyond the Outer Limits, Headlands Center for the Arts
Hall of Fame Hall of Fame, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, with Renny Pritikin
Spring Performance Series, Berkeley Art Center

Commissions

2023
Out There Screaming, Edited by Jordan Peele, Random House Publishing, Book Cover
Corrected Proofs, Bob Nickas, Book Cover

2021
Candyman, Monkey Paw Productions, MGM, Set Decoration

Selected Articles and Reviews

2023
Rigou, Vasia."Art 50 2023: Chicago's Artists' Artists." New City, Sep. 5 2023

2022
Villa, Angelica, “With a Fred Flintstone Rubber Disguise, Artist Arnold Kemp Explores What Masks Really Reveal,” Artnews, April 6
Drexelius, Alexandra, "Looking the Other Way: A Review of Arnold J. Kemp at M. LeBlanc and the Neubauer Collegium." New City, Mar. 2022
Piedmonte-Lang, Antonia, “REVIEW: Arnold J. Kemp, Less Like an Object and More Like the Weather,” Bridge, March

2021
Roth, David M., “Best of 2021,” Square Cylinder, December
Valentine, Victoria L., “From California to Chicago, Tennessee to Maine, 15 of Summer’s Best Museum Exhibitions Remain on View This Fall,” Culture Type, September 6
Conner, Allison Noelle, “Eating the Self: Arnold J Kemp’s Hungry Hydras,” Contemporary Art Review, August 19
Roth, David M., “The Emancipatory Formalism of Arnold J Kemp,” Square Cylinder, July 4
Brara, Noor, “Artists on Artists to Watch, and Maybe Even Collect,” The New York Times Style Magazine, June 14
Sweetwood, Cole, “Pick of the Week: Arnold Kemp,” Artillery, June 9
Copeland, Huey, "1000 WORDS: ARNOLD J. KEMP." Artforum, Mar. 2021

2020
Kemp, Arnold J. “A Questionnaire on Decolonization,” October, 174, Fall 2020
Cardoza, Kerry. “Art 50 2020: Chicago’s Artists’ Artists.” New City, September 3, 2020

2018
Lukova, Lusi, “Collaboration and creativity under a looming sky,” Oregon Artswatch, December 7

2017
"Art 50 2017: Chicago’s Visual Vanguard." Newcity, Sep. 2017.
"Art Top 5: April 2017." Newcity, Apr. 2017.

2015
Knoblauch, Loring. "Photography in the 2015 Volta NY Show." Collector Daily, Mar. 9, 2015.
Lynne, Jessica. "From Climate Change to Race Relations, Artists Respond to Richmond, Virginia." Hyperallergic, Jul. 15, 2015.

2013
Margolis-Pineo, Sarah."When Will My Love Be Right: A Conversation with Arnold J. Kemp." Bad at Sports, Mar. 20, 2013.
Kitson, Will. "Arnold Joseph Kemp: RISING FROM THE EDGE OF A MAN'S SORROW." Seymour Magazine.

2012
Radon, Lisa. "Arnold J. Kemp Awarded Guggenheim." Untitled PNCA, Apr. 13, 2012.

2010

Motley, John. “Arnold Kemp with ‘Daydream Nation’ and Vanessa Renwick with ‘As Easy as Falling off a Log’ both featured at PDX Contemporary Art.” The Oregonian, Nov. 19, 2010.

Donovan, Thom, “Aspect Blindness: Arnold Kemp and Sreshta Rit Premnath,” art: 21 blog, September 7.

2009

Row, D.K., "Review: Arnold Kemp at PDX and Dianne Korberg at Elizabeth Leach Gallery," The Oregonian, November 27.

Jahn, Jeff. "A Gaggle of November Reviews," PORT, November 26.

Malone, Micah, "Critics' Picks: Arnold J. Kemp," Artforum, November 10.

Norris, TJ, "Arnold J. Kemp: Whispering Amid the Darkness, Shining in the Light," just out, November 6.

2007

Kryza, AP, “Blood, Guts and Art: The Hallucinatory Horror Double Feature,” Willamette Week, May 11, 2007.

Bowie, Chas, “Arnold J. Kemp Presents ‘Suspiria and Prince of Darkness’,” Portland Mercury, May 10, 2007.

2006

Cotter, Holland, “Energy and Abstraction at the Studio Museum in Harlem,” The New York Times, April 7, 2006.

Baker, Kenneth, “Black History Month Artist Profile,” San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 17, 2006.

2002

Hamlin, Jesse, “A necessary labor of art,” The San Francisco Chronicle, September.

2001

Schmidt, Jason, “The New Masters,” Vibe, May.

Valdez, Sarah, "Freestyling,” Art In America, September.

Cotter, Holland, “Arnold J. Kemp,” The New York Times, November 9.

2000

Horton, David, “Color Theory at the Luggage Store,” Artweek, September.

1998

Berk, Amy, “Arnold Kemp at ESP”, Art in America, June.

1997
Bonetti, David, “Kemp: An artist unmasks the past,” San Francisco Examiner, March 27.