Paula Karoline Kamps

02.12.1990 † 05.16.2026

CGN heard the news that German-born, Chicago-connected artist Paula Kamps has died.

We received and are sharing the following message from M. LeBlanc Gallery, where Kamps made her solo gallery debut in 2021.

It is with deep sadness to share the news that German artist Paula Kamps has passed, at the age of 36. 

Paula Kamps was an artist of rare sensitivity.

From 2019-2024, M. LeBlanc represented Paula’s works, exhibiting her paintings in numerous group exhibitions and art fairs, as well as mounting two solo exhibitions here in Chicago. Paula made an extraordinary impact during her time in the city, touching the lives of many people in our community and the numerous students she advised during her time at the School Of The Art Institute of Chicago.

The gallery extends our heartfelt condolences to her family, friends, collaborators, and colleagues, as well as to those who had the privilege of working closely with her throughout her life. 

And the bitter taste of the irony of analysis and reflection on time: everything as it is now, will be different tomorrow.

In a year from now? I do not need to do much to keep people and conditions coming into my life that make everything that happened before, happen again.

How conditional insight is. Because the contents will change. Conversely, that also means I will be able to play my game of wanting understanding to the last day.

- Paula Kamps, Desire | Delivery , 2019, Kunstverein Heppenheim

Paula Kamps, Petals of Dream (A Witch’s Potion) (2023), 150 x 120 cm (59 x 47.25 in)

Paula Kamps (German, b. 1990 in Bergisch Gladbach in Nord Rhein-Westphalia) lived and worked between Chicago and Düsseldorf. Kamps graduated as a Meisterschülerin from Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in 2016, having studied under Tomma Abts and Elizabeth Peyton. Recent solo exhibitions include My Neighbor's Flowers at Galerie Chrisine Mayer, Munich (2026), Cold Customs at eastcontemporary, Milan (2022); Shoot The Moon at Mou Projects, Hong Kong (2022); Rain Or Shine at M. LeBlanc, Chicago (2021); At The Pawn Shop at sans titre, Paris (2021), and Ganze Tage In Den Bäumen at Kunstverein Heppenheim (2019). Her work was shown in group exhibitions at Galería Heinrich Ehrhardt, Madrid (2023); Good Weather, North Little Rock (2023); M. LeBlanc, Chicago (2022); David Zwirner’s Platform (online) (2022); sans titre, Paris (2022); NÉVÉ, Los Angeles (2022); LVH, London (2021); Andrea Festa Fine Art, Rome (2021); SLICE, Ufer Studios, Berlin (2020); Amelchenko, New York (2019); Carbon12, Dubai (2018) and at Kunstverein Reutlingen (2018). Kamps published much of her poetry in the form of artist's books, her last, a leporello titled Mistress Of Good Advice, was self-published during her residency at the Ox-Bow School Of Art in Saugatuck, MI.