Email: xamvkempen@gmail.com
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Born in a small, rural village, Xam (2000) began to wonder at an early age if there was more to life, but soon discovered that there actually wasn’t. This got him heavily into music. Inspired by Lou Reed, David Bowie and his favourite movies, Xam started writing stories. This resulted in the publication of his first novel “The Judas” at the age of sixteen. An accomplishment he is proud of, but of the book itself he thinks it’s the worst book ever written.
After a failed attempt to study film in Amsterdam, it was at the University of Arts in Arnhem where he picked up a brush for the first time. Painting quickly became his favourite medium. He started describing his work as an autobiography of someone who never existed, with the alienation, disorientation and loneliness of a person as reoccurring themes in his paintings.
A storyteller rather than a painter, his works tell stories about fringe figures and subcultures. Stories about cleaning toilets or drinking too much during the holidays,
After graduating in 2021, Xam received a stipend. After his first solo-show at Collectie de Groen, he decided to move to Ghent, Belgium. Here, he felt more superfluous than ever and wrote a plan. A plan on how to disappear completely. Instead of putting the plan in motion, he returned to the Netherlands where he now works and lives.
After a failed attempt to study film in Amsterdam, it was at the University of Arts in Arnhem where he picked up a brush for the first time. Painting quickly became his favourite medium. He started describing his work as an autobiography of someone who never existed, with the alienation, disorientation and loneliness of a person as reoccurring themes in his paintings.
A storyteller rather than a painter, his works tell stories about fringe figures and subcultures. Stories about cleaning toilets or drinking too much during the holidays,
After graduating in 2021, Xam received a stipend. After his first solo-show at Collectie de Groen, he decided to move to Ghent, Belgium. Here, he felt more superfluous than ever and wrote a plan. A plan on how to disappear completely. Instead of putting the plan in motion, he returned to the Netherlands where he now works and lives.