Blessed and Highly Favoured | Kalmplex

For over 20 years, Kalmplex has been a ubiquitous presence at art exhibitions, music shows, festivals, and cultural events across Toronto, documenting the scene with his camera, performing as a DJ, painting live, and exhibiting in galleries and alternative venues.

Blessed and Highly Favoured focuses on Kalmplex’s painting practice, and includes a residency with the artist working on site throughout the exhibition.

Born and raised in Toronto, Kalmplex has drawn and painted since early childhood, enrolling in university fine arts programs during the late 1990s and early 2000s, majoring in drawing and painting. Realizing that the constrictions of academia did not suit his life path, he abandoned formal education and considers himself self-taught. Liberated from institutional aesthetic codes, he has developed an authentic and distinct pictorial vocabulary deeply rooted in community.

Primarily working at modest scale, Kalmplex creates portraits mostly of people he considers to be African Royalty: family members reflecting his Jamaican and Ghanaian heritage; friends and colleagues; self-portraits, and well-known figures and celebrities he admires. Beginning with photographic sources, or sometimes from memory, he renders his figures, somewhat unconventionally, by starting with their eyes, to elicit the essence or internal spirit of each subject. Larger works depicting gatherings in parks, on streets, or in group settings are often composed from multiple sources, resulting in fictionalized narratives. The pictures occasionally include inspirational texts, phrases or quotes. 

Kalmplex’s characteristic style includes the use of metallic paints and carefully chosen colours that evoke royal ornamentation. This approach elevates each sitter—regardless of social or economic standing, whether friend or celebrity—to a shared regal status, and alludes to transformation and connection to the cosmos. 

"The Most High is my inspiration. Being close to source energy, the sun livity. My vinyl collection is infused with jungle, hip hop, r’n’b, drum n bass, techno, all sorts of sounds. Being an artist is capturing the energy that’s around you. Whether creating with sound or colour I’m channeling what’s happening. Sometimes the environment is nature; sometimes it’s a discussion with friends after a show. Riding my bike all year round I get to see the world embracing the elements when I’m off to my destinations. I spend time observing the world and reflecting it back to people." - Kalmplex

Autonomously forging his own path through creative communities, Kalmplex’s practice is intended to inspire connection and foster an uplifting energy and ambience of positivity. The exhibition title is the artist’s signature greeting, an affirmation of his and our collective, blessed existence; an acknowledgment of what it means to be fully alive and present in the moment.

Blessed and Highly Favoured is specifically presented in Koffler 301, the newly opened gallery that focuses on artists from the Toronto community. One of the city’s most prominent cultural figures, Kalmplex celebrates community and joyousness through creative action and iconic presence. 

- David Liss, exhibition curator

Learn more about related programs for this exhibition here.

For media inquiries please contact: Laura Chapnick-Klein lchapnick@kofflerarts.org

Photography by Jeremie Warshafsky

Kalmplex