k e t t n e r . e m @ g m a i l . c o m

b. 1988, philadelphia, pa

represented by françois ghebaly in los angeles & new york

SOLO & TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS

2025 “Tales and Tiles. Comedy of the Absurd: Wolfgang Günther + Em Kettner.” F2T Gallery, Milan, Italy
2025 “The Mortal Coil: Ekin Balcıoğlu + Em Kettner.” Form & Concept, Santa Fe, NM

2024 “Caterpillar: Emma CC Cook + Em Kettner.” Outer Space, Concord, NH
2024 “Homebound.” Solo Exhibition, François Ghebaly, New York, NY

2022 “Sick Joke.” Solo Exhibition, Chapter, New York, NY
2022 “Stepping Stones.” Solo Exhibition, Specialist, Seattle, WA
2022 “The Understudies.” Solo Exhibition, François Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2021 “Slow Poke.” Solo Exhibition, François Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2020 “Play the Fool.” Solo Exhibition, Goldfinch Gallery, Chicago, IL

2019 “Corporeal Forms” with Claire Ashley, Rare Visions, Boulder, CO
2019 “Twisted Sister: Maria Guzman-Capron + Em Kettner.” Massman Gallery, Oakland, CA

2018  “The Eternal Worm.” Solo Exhibition, HARPY, Rutherford, NJ

2017  “Phantom Limb.” Solo Exhibition, NIAD Art Center, Richmond, CA

2016  “Talisman: Em Kettner + Jessie Mott.” Fernwey Gallery, Chicago, IL

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2025 “Dress Parade.” Pangée, Montreal, Canada
2025 “A Form to Accommodate the Mess.” Personal Space, Vallejo, CA
2025 “Mother Me Meanly.” Chez Max et Dorothea, Los Angeles, CA
2025 “Domestic 1: A Shaggy Dog.” Laurel Gitlen, Brooklyn, NY
2025 “Master Class.” Secrist | Beach, Chicago, IL
2025 “Flesh Vessels.” NIAD Art Center, Richmond, CA
2025 “Fiction Folly: Em Kettner, Rian Kerrane, Aitor Lajarin-Encina.” Friend of a Friend, Denver, CO

2024 “Give Me an Inch.” Pipeline Contemporary, London, UK
2024 “Don’t mind if I do.” Sacramento State University Gallery, Sacramento, CA
2024 “Double Threshold.” Winter Street Gallery, Edgartown, MA

2023 “Landline.” Personal Space, Vallejo, CA
2023 “Tender Loving Care: Contemporary Art from the Collection.” Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
2023 “Deep! Down! Inside!” curated by Sarah Faux, Hales Gallery, New York, NY
2023 “Fortune’s Moving.” Troost Gardens, Kansas City, MO

2022 “Power Tools.” Candice Madey, New York, NY
2022 “Familiars.” Et al., San Francisco, CA
2022 “Barely Fair.” with Goldfinch Gallery, Color Club, Chicago, IL

2021 “Tender to the Bone.” curated by Elizabeth Lalley, Goldfinch Gallery, Chicago, IL

2020 “Artists Run Chicago.” with Julius Caesar Gallery, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL
2020 “Through My Eyes.” NIAD Art Center, Richmond, CA
2020 “The Rim of Morning.” Open Windows, San Francisco, CA    
                           
2019  “RAD Craft + Design.” Dream Farm Commons, Oakland, CA
2019  “Right Here, Right Now.” Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA
2019 “Animal Idealism.” HARPY, Rutherford, NJ
2019 “Siblings.” Siblings, Chicago, IL
2019 “No Place Like." Field Projects Gallery, New York, NY

2018 “LTE: Templates for Public Art Vol. 1” organized by Kate Conlon + Boyang Hou. Compound Yellow, Oak Park, IL      
2018 “Greenpoint Group Show.” with Harpy Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2018  "Up like a sun, down like a pancake." organized by Kelly Lloyd, ICA Baltimore, MD
2018 “Pocket Object.” Traveling Exhibition: Elephant Gallery, Nashville, TN; Tusk, Chicago, IL; JuiceBox Gallery, Kansas City, MO; Kamihara, Philadelphia, PA
2018  "One Last One." Fernwey Gallery, Chicago, IL

2017  "Welcome Blanket." Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2017  "Figured Out! Bodily Form in Contemporary Ceramics." Andrew Rafacz Gallery, Chicago, IL
2017  "LTD Wear 2." LVL 3 Gallery, Chicago, IL
2017  "World Town." Prairie Production, Chicago, IL
2017  "Close to Me." Roots & Culture, Chicago, IL
2017  "--on the bank of what river?" drawings by five artists, Roman Susan Gallery, Chicago, IL

2016  "Em Kettner, Ryan Travis Christian, Kyle Breitenbach." HARPY, Rutherford, NJ
2016  "Neutral Mask: Em Kettner, Andy Moore, Oriana Weich." Western Exhibitions, Chicago, IL
2016  "Object Puzzles." Tusk, Chicago, IL
2016  "Pliocene Park." Site Red, Chicago, IL
2016  "How High." Left Field SLO, San Luis Obispo, CA
2016  "DisFigure." Turpentine Gallery, Oakland, CA
2016  "Analog RAM: the Return of Active Memory." The Research House for Asian Art, Chicago, IL

2014  "Talking to the Animals." MFA Thesis Exhibition, Sullivan Galleries, Chicago, IL
2014  "Sexy Can I: 8 Failed and Successful Romances." curated by Third Object, 2FR, Chicago, IL

AWARDS, HONORS, & RESIDENCIES

2025 Creative Capital Shortlist
2022 The Wynn Newhouse Award
2020 A.I.R. in Sculpture, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
2019 Recipient of The Alliance of Artists Communities 2019-2020 Diversity + Leadership Fellowship, funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation
2019 A.I.R. and disability consultant, Chalk Hill Artist Residency funded by NIAD, Healdsburg, CA
2017  MIUSA Women's Institute on Leadership and Disability (WILD), San Francisco, CA
2016  A.I.R., AZULE Residency, Asheville, NC
2015  A.I.R., CAMP (Collaborative Arts Mobility Project) Residency, Hardwick, VT
2014  Fall Painting and Drawing Teaching Fellowship: Drawing Multi-Level, SAIC, Chicago, IL
2012 - 2014  Writing Fellowship TA position for duration of Master's degree program
2012 - 2014 SAIC Grant
2011 The Ted Carey Prize
        The Steve Jaffe Award in Drawing
        The Novelli Award
        The Larry Day Memorial Award
        The Marguerite and Otis Walter Scholarship for Excellence in Art History

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

  • The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

  • Ohana Center, Monterey, CA

  • The DePaul Art Museum, Chicago, IL

  • The Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection, Chicago, IL

PRESS

PUBLICATIONS

  • “Bright Lights.” The Paris Review,  Issue No. 251: Spring 2025

  • Kettner, Em, “Doctor, Doctor.” an interactive digital storybook for Sequencing, Fulcrum Arts, September 12th, 2023

  • “The Center is a Ghost,” with Luis Estrada, HAMAM: The Magazine of Letting Go, Issue 4: “Naked,” Istanbul, Turkey, July, 2021.

  • Lalley, Elizabeth + Em Kettner, “Artist Q&A Exhibition Zine,” Goldfinch Gallery, Chicago, IL, October, 2020.

  • “The Pythia,” Art Maze Mag, Issue 9, Editorial Selection, September, 2018

  • “Tailbone” Fernwey Gallery, Fernwey Editions, November 4th, 2016

  • Kettner, Em “On the Work of Nick Schutzenhofer.” Fernwey Gallery, Fernwey Editions, October 24th, 2014

  • “Corpsey and the Birds” Trubble Club Presents: The Infinite Corpse 2013

  • “Night Mare” Edge Magazine, The University of the Arts, 2012

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2019 - present Exhibitions Associate & Artist Liaison, NIAD Art Center, Richmond, CA
2017 - 2024 Studio Facilitator in Ceramics, Fibers, + Painting/Drawing, NIAD Art Center, Richmond, CA
2014 - 2018 Lecturer, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago IL. Courses Taught:

  • Studio Drawing A: Multi-Level, Painting and Drawing department

  • Studio Painting A: Multi-Level, Painting and Drawing department

  • Drawing Institute: Advanced Summer Residency with Diego Leclery + Eric Lebofsky, Painting and Drawing department

  • Research Studio 1, Contemporary Practices department

  • First Year Writing Seminar 1, Liberal Arts Department

  • First Year Writing Seminar 2, Liberal Arts Department

VISITING ARTIST LECTURES, PRESENTATIONS, & CRITIQUES

2025 Artist Lecture, Department of Art, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
2023 Artist Lecture, Multicultural Center, Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts, Illinois State University, IL
2021 Spotlight Artist Lecture for “Beyond Ramps: Accessibility for Artist Residencies” Equitable Capacity Workshop Series, Artist Communities Alliance, Providence, RI
2020 Judge for Teaching Arts, 3Arts Unrestricted Grant Awards, Chicago, IL
2018  Curator Lecture for "Cyrano," NIAD Art Center, Richmond, CA
2017  Artist Lecture for Drawing Institute: Summer Residency, SAIC, Chicago, IL
2017  Artist Lecture for "Phantom Limb," NIAD, Richmond, CA
2017 - 2014  Faculty Panelist on end-of-semester graduate critiques at School of the Art Institute of Chicago
2016  Artist Lecture at Azule Residency, Asheville, NC
2015  Presenter at Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, IL, Soapbox Lecture Series, Topic: Desire, "Get Up and Walk: Mythology and Myopathy."
2015  Visiting Artist Lecturer at SAIC for Drawing Studio: Multi-Level taught by Gulsah Mursaloglu
2015  Panelist at Julius Caesar Gallery, "Ethan Gill: Mean on Sunday." Chicago, IL
2014  Visiting Artist Lecturer at DePaul University for Intermediate Drawing taught by Matthew Girson
2014  Visiting Artist Lecturer at SAIC for graduate level ARTHIST "Extraordinary Bodies" taught by Bess Williamson

EDUCATION

2012 - 2014  School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC): MFA in Painting/Drawing
2007 - 2011  The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA: BFA in Fine Arts: Painting/Drawing; Minor in History of the Visual Arts