Stéphane Kenkle

UP. 27.06.2023

Born in 1975

Lives and works in Reunion Island

Stéphane Kenkle’s painting focuses mainly on the depiction of the human figure and family portraits. His subjects, which he presents as half-length or full-length portraits, are painted in Fauvist colours with eyes wide open, suspended in pattern-studded spaces. Their attitudes seem to indicate that they are posing as they would in a photography studio, as if they were trying to give the impression of a “respectable” family – a tightly knit clan in which roles are assigned and performed according to the norm. But then one notices a hand hidden behind someone’s back, a foot bent inwards, or a tense clasp. A feeling of unease cracks the image and gives the fabricated nature of the reunion away. The backgrounds of the portraits, covered in vines, stars or embroideries, play an integral part in the decorum of these strange schemes (as confirmed by the titles of the pieces: Family with vines, Family with clover, …). Stéphane Kenkle scratches away at the varnish of the icons that stand on our shelves and urges us to perhaps reconsider these frames and the people who inhabit them.

Marie Birot, 2020.

News

L'art d'habiter comme on fait son nid

Group exhibition, Bibliothèque universitaire Droit-Lettres, Saint-Denis La Réunion, from the 28/08/2023 to the 19/07/2024, Stéphane Kenkle, Tatiana Patchama

Agir dans son lieu - Locquémeau

Group exhibition, Galerie du Dourven / Coopérative du port, Locquémeau, from the 30/03/2024 to the 30/06/2024, Kako, Pascal Rivet, Stéphane Kenkle