Arnold J. Kemp “Un-make | Un-model” at M. Le Blanc, Chicago

M. LeBlanc is proud to open the gallery’s second solo exhibition with artist Arnold J. Kemp. Titled “Un-make | Un-model”, the exhibition will open on Saturday, April 19th from 6 to 9 pm, and remain on view through May 31st. Comprising the exhibition are watercolors from Kemp’s latest Scores series and a select number of recent abstract paintings.

For the last 30 years, American artist Arnold J. Kemp has committed his practice to the politics of conceptual art. Kemp’s work considers how histories of Black survival might be utterly fragile, necessitating interdependency and mutual aid, and requiring a queer poetics of touch in order to take shape. A multi-hyphenate artist, Kemp’s experiments in art-making take the form of talks, performances, publications, plays, painting, and sculpture. Engaging ideas about the permeability of the border between self and the materials of culture, Kemp’s art holds potential to spur new thinking about the requirements of creativity in a world where all bodies need to engage creatively every single day.

The exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Kemp’s former student Norah Horwitz (1986-2025). 

at M. Le Blanc, Chicago
until May 31, 2025