Kenneth Kemble (Buenos Aires 1923 – 1998) studied painting during 1950 with his first teacher, Raúl Russo. In 1951 he attended the André Lothe Academy in Paris and visited museums in France, Italy, Spain, England, Belgium and Holland.
In the mid-50s he returned to Argentina. His stay is brief, since in 1955 he traveled to the United States and stayed there for three months. In 1956, he returned to Buenos Aires, and from 1956 he began to develop a series of collages and oil paintings – made with rags, meshes, cardboard, blankets, which formed a central part of the renewal of artistic language in Argentina.
Between 1958 and 1960 he produced his series of Suburban Landscapes, assemblages made of wood, tree bark, and metal sheets extracted by Kemble from emergency neighborhoods in Córdoba. In 1958 he exhibited for the first time at the Pizarro Gallery, in the Arte Nuevo exhibition. In 1961 he carried out the Destructive Art exhibition at the Lirolay Gallery, an experience that paved the way for Conceptualism in Argentina, and the experiences that would be carried out at the Di Tella Institute and the CAYC-Center for Art and Experimentation- during the 60s. ‘and 70’.
In 1963, the Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires dedicated its first retrospective exhibition to him, during the same year he exhibited individually at the Museum of Modern Art in Miami.
Between 1960 and 1972 he was an art critic for the Buenos Aires Herald newspaper, he was Director of the Luján Museum between 1968-1972 and in 1962 he joined as a teacher at the Ernesto de la Cárcova Higher School of Fine Arts, a task he previously carried out in his workshop and that will continue throughout his life.
In 1972 he won first prize for painting at the Manuel Belgrano National Fine Arts Hall.
The 1970s would be fruitful for his artistic and critical production: he published in various media the writings La Pintura does not move, it does not make noise and it is not a means of communication, fortunately – 1971 -, Cultural Autocolonization I and II and In defense of the Academy -1976.
During the 80’s he exhibited individually in the galleries Alberto Elía -1980-, Ruth Benzacar -1985, 87, 89- and in the Center of Art and Communication – CAYC, 1988-.
In 1983 he received the award for the best teaching work, awarded by the Argentine Association of Art Critics, and for the best artist of the year in 1985, awarded by the same institution. In 1987, the critic Rafael Squirru published the book Kenneth Kemble, a critical and biographical essay.
In 1994 he obtained the Grand Prize of Honor from the Plastic Arts Hall. Between 1995 and 1998, two large retrospective exhibitions took place, the first in the National Exhibition Halls and the last in the Recoleta Cultural Center, titled The Great Rupture.
Works (1956-1963), curated by Marcelo Pacheco. His works are included in important public and private collections such as the National Museum of Fine Arts of Buenos Aires (MNBA); the Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires (Malba); the Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires (MAMBA); among others.