KAI “RAWS” IMHOF – CONTEMPORARY ARTIST

A RUPTURE IN CAPITALIST INSTAGRAM AESTHETICS – by Dr. Anne Simone Kiesiel | Art historian

“The jagged, abrupt broken lines that characterise Kai “RAWS” Imhof‘s visual practice can be interpreted as symbols of an inscrutable era. Bright red-orange or rainbow-coloured, they flicker across the canvas with the electrified digital dynamism of the post-internet era. Running parallel to each other in multiple layers, they converge into broad bands that run in front of, behind and on top of each other. As a plane within the image, they form a spatial puzzle that challenges our own point of view. Are we standing in front of, next to or below the line? Perspectives become relative, location a question of angle. The breakdown of spatial relationships reflects how social media distorts our sense of time and reality. Anyone can participate, be there, follow along, anytime, anywhere. The shift in perspective negotiates art and criticism on two levels.

Kai “RAWS” Imhof links to art history with surprising parallels to the copperplate engravings of Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778). In the series Carceri (1760–61), imaginary prison structures and staircases form disorienting labyrinths that already anticipate the endless steps of M. C. Escher (1898–1972). Loneliness, loss, and disorientation become the distilled essence of both artists’ graphic work. This is also accentuated and reinterpreted in a contemporary way in Imhof’s paintings.They are a metaphor for the dense web of digitalised possiblities closely linked to capitalism and consumerism.

With the superflat, clean, and pop-coloured appearance of his works, Berlin-based Imhof adopts the aesthetics of Instagram and other social media platforms. However, unlike Piranesi or Escher, their illusion is broken on and through the canvas. Some parts of the image open up small vistas, offering a hopeful glimpse of what lies beyond. Other areas leave the raw canvas exposed, creating a direct reflection on the medium itself. It is exactly these ruptures that undermine the glossy look of the capitalist Instagram aesthetic that Kai Raws Imhof ostensibly evokes. By using the market’s own methods, the graffiti-trained artist undermines capitalist market mechanisms.

By drawing the eye with smooth surfaces and compliant colours, he formulates criticism that is at times subversive, at other times overt. Civil disobedience, the street and the moral ethos of graffiti continue to resonate in his images to this day. The adrenaline rush of spraying in the wild has given way to artistic reflection that beats the system at its own game, but is no less profound for that.”

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Kai Imhof, also known as “Raws” (born in 1990 in Königs Wusterhausen) is a contemporary artist based in Berlin with his roots in the urbanart culture. After graduating from Emmy Noether School in Berlin-Köpenick, Imhof studied graphic design at the Best Sabel Design School, graduating with honours for the best final thesis in 2015. Since then, he has been working as an independend artist.

His artistic practice began in 2004 with his first works as a graffiti writer in the streets of Berlin. So-called tags and bombings in public spaces repeatedly brought Kai “Raws” Imhof into conflict with the law. From around 2008 onwards, he shifted his focus to the design and creative potential of graffiti and developed a style characterised by colourful and detailed compositions. With this artistic signature, he gained recognition in the international graffiti and street art scene over the years. Later, during his design studies, Kai “Raws” Imhof began to study art history in depth. Artistic movements such as the Bauhaus and the Blauer Reiter, as well as the work of Wassily Kandinsky, Gerhard Richter and Pablo Picasso, inspired him to critically reflect on his own artistic approach. These influences continue to shape his work today, which combines graphic clarity, strong colour palettes and compositional precision with social issues.

Imhofs artworks have been featured in numerous exhibitions to date, including the highly recognised group show The Haus – Berlin Art Bang in 2017. This was followed in 2019 by his first major solo exhibition at the Urban Spree Gallery in Berlin. Over the years, further solo exhibitions followed in Leipzig or Paris, as well as participation in art fairs such as Art Miami in the US, the Salon d’international d’art in Paris or the MISA organised by well-known König Gallery in Berlin. Further international exhibitions took Kai “Raws” Imhof from France or the Netherlands to USA or Ireland, and on to Indonesia and China. His practice continues to develop the relationship between typography, abstraction and contemporary visual culture, questioning where a sign ends, where an image begins, and how context changes the way we perceive both.

Artist statement

Kai “Raws” Imhof is an 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 and explores the artistic possibilities of abstraction and materiality.