ABOUT URBAN AND CONTEMPORARY ART

Kai “Raws” Imhof was born in 1990, in Königs Wusterhausen, Germany and raised in Berlin. After finishing his A-level at the Emmy-Noether School in Berlin-Köpenick, he started the training as a graphic designer at the Best-Sabel Designschule in Berlin, which he finished in 2015 by winning the best graduation work award. After that, he decided to become a full-time artist.

Raws’ artistic career started in 2004 when he was painting the streets as a graffiti writer. During his early years as a sprayer, he painted illegal bombings and tags on walls in his neighborhood. Due to clashes with the police, he decided (around 2008) to deal with the artistic side of graffiti writing. By painting high-end colorful pieces over the years he became a famous artist in the international graffiti scene.

When he started his graphic design training, he dealt with the history of fine arts. Movements like Bauhaus or Blauer Reiter and artists like Kandinsky, Richter or Picasso made him rethinking his own standards and views and had a big impact to his following artworks. Nowadays, he is combining his addiction to clean graphics, layout and arrangement with a classic graffiti style.

Raws was invited to many events and exhibitions all over the world. The artist had opportunities to show his work in countries like Indonesia, Ireland, Netherlands, Denmark or France. When it comes to exhibitions, Raws was part of the international renowned The Haus – Berlin Art Bang show in Berlin in 2017. He also took part in artfairs like Monumenta in Leipzig or MISA from König Galerie in Berlin in 2021. In 2019 Raws had his first big Soloshow at the Urban Spree Gallerie in Berlin. Since then, his career is evolving and Raws had international shows, cooperations with big brands  and became a well known german contemporary artist.

Artist statement

Kai “Raws” Imhof is a young Berlin artist who deals with the abstraction of urban aesthetic elements, digitalization and social challenges. The central means here, in addition to the medium of spray cans and the color world of certain urban movements, is the compositional arrangement of the elements. Imhof thus combines his past as a graffiti artist with the influences of modern graphic design, contemporary art and social themes.