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Kemar Keanu Wynter
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Growing up estranged from the Patois of my Jamaican heritage, I came to see the kitchen, enlivened by the staccato rattle of dutch pot covers and the hot-damp air incensed with scallion and scorched sugar, as my tether to the Antilles. As a child of New York City, I grew to love the velveteen richness of spinach knishes, and the sour savor of pig’s head sisig as much as I do the unctuousness of "cowfootsoup".
Texture, flavor and heat are my work. Acrylic washes of luminous pigment coalesce into sinuous swaths of aether. Each painting serves as a vignette of the intimate communions with my loved ones over shared delicacies and broken bread. Through this translation of palate to palette, I’m building myself a visual Patois–a body of work through which I can triangulate myself between the West Indies, New York and the innumerable cultures and cuisines yet encountered.
Bachelors of Fine Art
Painting and Drawing
SUNY Purchase
2013
Imagemakers
The International Center of Photography
-figur
Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space, New York, NY
2024
Rücken-
Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, New York, NY
2023
Heralds
Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, New York, NY
Digest
Encounter, Lisbon, Portugal
2022
Postcards
Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, Online Viewing Room
2021
Pairings
Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, New York, NY
Portions
Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Queens, NY
Exhibitions
Wild Seed
SPEEDBOAT, Los Angeles, CA
A Shell of the Sea of the Past
Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, New York, NY
Waiting Room
Creative Legion, Hudson, NY
School’s Out
The Macedonia Institute, Ghent, NY
Contact Sport
CANADA, New York, NY
2024
To Dust You Shall Return
COMA, Sydney, Australia
Passages
Encounter, Lisbon, Portugal
Mama’s in the Kitchen
Anat Ebgi, New York, NY
2023
Visible World
Halsey McKay, East Hampton, NY
The Death of Beauty
Sargent’s Daughters, Los Angeles, CA
2022
Like a Child
NADA Curated, Online Viewing Room
Books + Things
Helen J Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Faraway Nearby
North Loop, Williamstown, MA
Notes on Ecstatic Unity
OTP Copenhagen, DK
2021
Melrose
Harper’s, Los Angeles, CA
Friends + Family
Magenta Plains, NY
I Saw It Hang Down There
Bode Projects, Berlin, DE
Shining in the Low Tide
Unclebrother, Hancock, NY
Workshops, Presentations
Critiques / Visiting Lecture, Hunter College, New York, NY
Visiting Lecture, Painting Processes, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
Critiques / Visiting Lecture, Canopy Program: Tamara Gonzales, NYC Crit Club
2024
Critiques, Senior Thesis, Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, NY
2023
Critiques, Senior Survey, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
Critiques / Visiting Lecture, Painting IV, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
2022
Workshop, A Survey on Sorrel: From Drink to Dye, Essex Market, New York, NY
2021
Visiting Lecture, Senior Seminar, SUNY Purchase, Harrison, NY
“The Cultural Traditions Inspiring Four Black Artists”, Sotheby’s
Vogel, Maria Rose, “A Name to Know: Kemar Keanu Wynter”, Rococo Record
2024
Urist, Jac, “Next Big Things: Kemar Keanu Wynter”, Galerie Magazine
Hollis, Phyllis, “A Conversation with Kemar Keanu Wynter”, Cerebral Women
Mina, AX, “Kemar Keanu Wynter Shares a Soulful Meal of Art”, Hyperallergic
Mina, AX, “15 NYC Art Shows to See in October”, Hyperallergic
Musser, Amber Jamilla, “ArtSeen: Kemar Keanu Wynter: Rücken-”, The Brooklyn Rail
Roffino, Sara, “New York Forever: 5 Painting Shows That Prove the City and Its Artists Can Thrive No Matter What”, Cultured Mag
“Must See– Kemar Keanu Wynter: Rucken-”, Artforum
Boyle, Meka, “Group Show Summer”, Family Style
2023
Rafky, Isabella, “Kemar Keanu Wynter Cooks Up an Abstract Feast”, Hyperallergic
“Must See– Kemar Keanu Wynter: Heralds”, Artforum
Schwendener, Martha, “The Independent, More Inclusive Than Ever”, The New York Times
Palma, Mónica. “#30. Mónica Palma & Kemar Keanu Wynter”, Correspondence Archive
2021
Poole, Julie, “For Brooklyn Artist Kemar Wynter, Caribbean Food is a Way Home,” bon appétit
Block, Louis. “Kemar Keanu Wynter: Portions”, The Brooklyn Rail
Naber, Nick. “Remote Studio Visit V”, The Coastal Post
Monira Foundation, Jersey City, NJ
2023
Sharpe Walentas Studio Program, Brooklyn, NY
Artist’ Alliance Inc. Studio Program, New York, NY
The Macedonia Institute, Chatham, NY
2022
Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village, CO
Ox-Bow School of Art, Saugatuck, MI
2021
AQB AIR, Art Quarter Budapest, HU
AROS Public, ARoS Kunstmuseum, Aarhus, DK
100 West Artist and Writer Residency, Corsicana, TX
2017
Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
Joan Mitchell Fellowship Nominee, New York, NY
2022
Black Artists’ Fellowship, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village, CO
2021
International Residency Fellowship, Flux Factory, New York, NY
Navarro Arts Council Fellowship, Corsicana Artist and Writer Residency, Corsicana, TX
Princeton University Art Museum Princeton, NJ
Virginia Museum of Fine Art Richmond, VA
Adjunct Professor, Experimental and Foundation Studies, Rhode Island School of Design
Last Updated 01.07.26