Arnold J. Kemp received a B.A./B.F.A. in English Literature/Studio Art at Tufts University, Medford, MA and School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, and an M.F.A. at Stanford University.

Kemp is the recipient of the Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant (2003), Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship (2001), and Pen Writers Grant (1993). He participated in the Cite International Des Arts Paris Residency in 2005. His work is held in the collections of The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, among others.

His work has been exhibited at the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, Portland, OR; Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco; CCSRE, Stanford, CA; Quotidian Gallery, San Francisco; Debs & Co., New York; Luggage Store, San Francisco; Gallery ESP, San Francisco; and the San Francisco African American Historical Society.

From 1993 – 2003, Kemp served as the Associate Visual Arts Curator, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco.