Chanelle René

Born in West Cape May, NJ / Works in Rio Grande, NJ

BIO

Chanelle René is a New Jersey–based figurative painter whose practice spans installations and large-scale murals. Working with oil paint, acrylic, spray paint, marker, and metal leaf, René is best known for jewel-tone, impressionistic paintings that merge abstract realism with emotionally resonant compositions. Her work balances intuitive mark-making with narrative depth, creating visual experiences that feel both intimate and expansive. René’s work explores identity through the lens of culture, pure self-essence, and the act of (re)claiming spaces. Her subject matter often centers the interior lives and embodied presence of Black women, inviting viewers into moments of reflection, belonging, and quiet power.

A defining body of work, the Grant Street Beach series, draws from personal and collective memory to honor Cape May’s historic Black beach, celebrating nostalgia, joy, and intergenerational connection. Her work has been featured in the solo exhibition A Line In The Sand (2024) at the Cape May MAC Carroll Gallery in Cape May, NJ, and duo exhibition Transversing Nostalgia (2024) at the Arts Council of Princeton in Princeton, NJ. René’s artwork is held in the collections of Cape May MAC, AtlantiCare Medical Center, and private collectors. She has served as a past board member of WheatonArts in Millville, NJ, completed public art installations for the Cape May Lighthouse and was selected by the National Hockey League New Jersey Devils to design the 2024-25 Black History Celebration Jersey.

As a visual artist based in Southern New Jersey my work bridges figurative painting and immersive narrative muralism. This practice is rooted in urban contemporary figurative art, where I use oil over layers of acrylic, spray paint, marker and metal leaf on canvas and large-scale surfaces to explore themes of identity, belonging, memory, and emotional presence. Through bold, jewel-toned palettes, layered imagery, and dramatic compositions, this work creates spaces that invite reflection and emotional engagement. Artworks with expressive painterly brushstrokes, mixed materials, and intentional layering across both intimate canvases and expansive public walls, often incorporating texture and subtle abstraction to heighten emotional resonance. For example, figures may emerge from richly saturated backgrounds or dissolve into patterned color fields, suggesting both visibility and vulnerability. This process is informed by personal history, Black cultural narratives, and everyday moments of quiet connection, and is shaped by a commitment to atmosphere, sensory depth, and visual storytelling.