Kent Knowles Interview

January 7, 2014

Kent Knowles Interview with John Lee Matney

JLM :Who were the most influential artists for you in the development of your work? What else has influenced you?

KK: I think my strongest influence has been my upbringing.  My father was a chaplain in the Air Force, and we would relocate every 3 years, traveling all over the world.  I remember first being interested in art when we moved to Okinawa.  My teacher there arranged for a special appointment with a famous printmaker on the island.  I regret that I have forgotten his name, but the artist was really cool and about 90 years old.  I loved the idea of engaging in a field in which you work your entire lifetime.  3 years later, we moved to Germany.  There I began to look at paintings seriously, mainly in the cathedrals and museums.  My teacher there, Mr. Fine was a huge influence on me.  He exposed me to many artists, like Gauguin, Michelangelo, the German Expressionists and the Symbolists.  He lead several trips to Cologne and other art centers in Europe, making sure I was exposed to the incredible scope of work there.  In addition, my folks were extremely supportive, enrolling me in additional classes and workshops.  One that particularly changed my life and got me into figuration, was a week-long workshop in a small town called Oberwesel.  The featured artist was a man named Kurt Wenner, who is known widely for his illusionistic pastel street drawings.  Five days with him changed my life.  Looking at his work now, I can clearly see his influence.  As I got more into figurative painting, I began to assemble a small group of influences who continue to spur me on or break my heart with their brilliance. I am particularly fond of Thomas Hart Benton, Stanley Spencer and Paula Rego.  With Spencer, it is a love of his warmth.  Each of his paintings feel cozy and sincere – as if he was planning to keep each one.    With Rego, I enjoy the power her figures possess – strong and awkward.  Each body seeming to exist beyond the setting it occupies.    Benton is a personal hero.  His designs are so forceful, looking at them feels like being caught in the center of a tornado.  He allows for the figures to support the overall composition, which I try to emulate, although I will admit, I do so less successfully.

JLM: What are some of the landmark pieces in your career- examples and background information- some photographs?

KK: I have been painting for about 20 years, beginning in high school when I was eighteen.  What I find alarming is how similar my current work is to that which was created in the early days.  The first time I made a painting that impressed me occurred during my Junior year as an undergraduate at Savannah College of Art and Design.  “Revival” (Knowles 1) gave me great satisfaction, because I felt like I was addressing the forms I had studied with Wenner, while also reflecting self-awareness.  I felt as if the figure was a version of me, waking up to my potential.  It was also the first time I had worked in a square format, which I have returned to in recent years.

This painting opened many doors for me, permitting me to address elements that I feel have become signatures of my work: the distorted figure, mysticism, the heavy forms and (with the inclusion of a golf course setting) subject matter that honors the old while engaging the new.

A second painting that I feel helped me to progress was “TIME TRAVEL” (Knowles 2), which I created during my second year as a grad student at the University of Georgia.

Again, the square format and distorted figure, but this time, the distortion is more exaggerated and I feel the momentum of the form is propelling the viewer and the figure beyond the surface.  Still no Benton, but a step in the right direction.

This was also a turning point for me, in that I realized I was making a mistake by trying to clothe my figures in antique garb.  I recall someone asking, “why the toga”?  I hadn’t been aware that I was doing this, but it came to my attention in this painting.  I think this is a trap many figurative artists fall into.  When looking at the old master works and emulating them, I think the dress gets caught somewhere in the mix.  It was this realization that caused me to start looking at contemporary fashion, and that has been a driving force in the work since.

JLM: How has your work and/or your attitude toward your work evolved over the last few years.  Elaborate on your process

KK: Drawing has always been a crucial part of my process.  I don’t do any preliminary work for the paintings, I just start drawing on the canvas with paint.  Many of the images begin as one thing and end as another – overlapping lines and abandoned forms giving way to new bodies.  I recently documented the evolution of one of my paintings, and it was very revealing to see just how many incarnations the figures endure.    It is clear to me now that I am painting my life.  Sometimes the symbols are concealed, while at other times they are blatantly transparent.  For example, when my wife and I were contemplating starting a family, the anxiety and uncertainty of having children dominated our thoughts.  The painting “RAINBOWS”  was created during that time, and it clearly illustrates our trepidation.

However, sometimes a painting will come off of the easel a complete mystery.  One such work is “YONDER”

JLM: Collectors in Virginia have purchased your works "Alto" and "Ojo" and "Dark Cloud".  Can you elaborate on these pieces- as well the piece we have in stock "Sway", "Tether "and the Pyramid pieces

KK: “ALTO” (Knowles 6) is about my struggle to maintain a career that is both sensible and creative.  Not an easy thing to do.  The figure in the foreground and the figure in the background are one and the same.  The only difference is that the large figure is being kept from completely floating away, by a small collection of marbles that keep her grounded.  She illustrates my current state, while the figure in the distance represents what could be.  “OJO” is, I regret, one of those paintings which I know nothing about.  I recall feeling at the time, how useless words can be.  How wise men tend to speak less.   “DARK CLOUD” is mainly about my wife.  Getting to know someone over a long period of time is kind of a rare thing.  We live in a disposable society where investment is not prized.  The painting is basically about knowing when to engage my wife and when to leave her alone“SWAY” is about domesticity.  Every now and then, the language of the Symbolists will creep back into my imagery.  I think of Bocklin and his great paintings about Centaurs.  Something about the half-man, half-beast seems a very appropriate symbol for the domesticated man.  Although powerful, the beast seems to enjoy being lead around, pacified.    “TETHER” is about the spectacle of childbirth.  I had tried to prepare myself for the delivery of my first born, but the event overwhelmed me.  I was floored by the thing.  It was no different the second time around.  I felt a shift in my responsibilities and my perspective on life.  Having this new presence in your world that is foreign, yet uniquely yours.  “PYRAMID” is an older painting, created during the time of Hurricane Katrina.  While most of my work is a direct reflection of my life, I was caught off-guard by the many tragedies related to the storm.  I felt guilty for not doing anything about it.  I created a small series of work related to the event.  Most were paintings of architecture, devoid of human life.  Ghost shells that endured some catastrophe and remained long after the people were gone.

JLM: Elaborate on the "Urchin" Piece and the piece "Island"

KK: These paintings were completed within 2 months of each another.  “ISLAND” is the result of several layers and many months of work.  It began as a piece about crucifixion, then became a man floating at sea, until it finally transformed into the woman nearly submerged.  This one is about allowing myself to be enveloped by painting.  For a while, I was considering other avenues.  I had always painted, but was considering another vocation.  “URCHIN”  is a follow-up piece.  This time, there is no victim or uncertainty, only a symbiotic relationship.  Still dangerous though.  To be honest, this painting is still very fresh and I have not been able to wrap my mind around it completely. 

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Veer Magazine Interview by Jeff Maisey

http://veermag.com/2016/04/art-the-women-of-kent-knowles/

Sometimes a painting will catch your eye from a distance and hook the viewer by the ribcage.  Such is the work of painter Kent Knowles, whose new exhibition “Passage” is on display through June 11 at Linda Matney Gallery in Williamsburg.

The paintings of Kent Knowles, an Associate Dean of Fine Arts and Foundation Studies at the Savannah College of Art and Design, feature women in dark, uneasy settings. That doesn’t mean they’re gothic in design, just unnervingly odd at times, but always fascinating.

To learn more about his process I posed a few questions to Knowles. Here’s our chat.

Your prime characters are women in perilous situations. Why?  Women have been at the center of my work for many years now, beginning in the early 2000s when I was exploring content as a graduate student.  I have found in the female figure the perfect vehicle to express an idea.  They are simultaneously vulnerable and powerful, and I can identify with that.  In recent years, I have placed myself in a position that is all but comfortable – trying new techniques in my work and taking on new challenges in my career as an educator and administrator at SCAD/Atlanta.  I also became a father about six years ago, and that truly altered the way I interpret my surroundings.  When you have a small child navigating the world, everything becomes dangerous.  I think these recent paintings are a reflection of the changes I have been experiencing, and that uneasiness has manifested in paintings of a figure (me) in an environment that is uncertain.

The women in your paintings sometimes have odd, distorted qualities. What are you communicating?   I have never truly embraced the importance of anatomical accuracy when painting the figure.  In fact, I have seen many artists who struggle to do so, and their figures end up going cold and lifeless.  My approach to a painting begins with overlapping marks and lines, with Design driving the bus.  Inevitably, a figure emerges from the overlapping lines and I will take that cue to begin fleshing out the composition.  If I put content first, it very rarely works out.  That is why I am a lousy portrait artist.  I have found this technique endows my figures with a type of compressed strength, but also a level of distortion that captures the energy of the process.  It’s funny.  I am so close to these paintings that the distortion doesn’t register.  It’s like someone telling you your children are ugly – you just can’t see it.

Often, your work includes a scenic, yet troubling landscape in the background. What do you hope the viewer sees in the background?  There is such freedom in the landscape that it often serves as an area of rest for my mind.  Most often, I will work on the figure first and create a landscape that compliments the features of the subject.  So much time and editing goes into the form, that I am often exhausted by the time it gets resolved.  However, I am beginning to realize just how much personality the environment has and how it can be just as relatable as any face or character.  Recently, I have been exploring the landscape to create work that gives back to me.  In all honesty, the figurative paintings are like wrestling with a clone – equal to you in all ways and able to anticipate your every move.  The landscapes operate on a grander scale and feel beyond my control.

Your work has been described as quirky. Is that a fair assessment?   As a painter, I think you have to be prepared for the inevitable fact that your work will have to take a few scrapes and bruises as it makes its way in the world.  If someone wants to categorize my work as quirky, that’s cool.  I personally find my paintings terrifying, self-revealing and downright dark.  I think any type of levity is a defense mechanism to make people feel better, even if it inappropriate to the situation.  You see this in movies a lot, especially during a moment when a character is particularly tender or taking an emotional risk.  People laugh when they should be crying.

Are you influenced by the works of Flemish painters of the 1600s?   I can see the connection, but it is not the first place I go regarding influences.  My heavy-hitters are Stanley Spencer, Paula Rego and Thomas Hart Benton.  Also, Aron Weisenfeld, whom I think is a genius.  The figures in their work are all monolithic and powerful.  They also possess a sense of regional allegiance, which I find intoxicating.  I suspect that painters will start embracing their regions more and more in the coming years.  The world has gotten so big, and with artists expected to operate in a global market, I think it is very logical that we will see more and more creatives hunkering down and linking their work to specific places.  I will admit that I am interested in exploring that idea.

What can you share about the work being shown in your upcoming exhibit at Linda Matney Gallery?   Lee Matney has been so gracious to allow me to show pieces that are not only from this year, but also from my beginning days as a painter.  I was in NY recently and attended a show at the newly opened Met Breuer.  It was titled Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible, and it was AWESOME!  Master works from the Met collection that were incomplete, showing the process of these incredible painters.  It blew me away and got me thinking about my process and how it has changed over the years.  With Passage, you will get to glance behind the curtain, with paintings and drawings that show how my technique, scale, materials and subject matter have evolved over the last two decades.

You often create work for an exhibit by painting several works within a short time frame. Is this to maintain a similar theme?  Yes.  As my time in the studio becomes more compressed, I have enjoyed working on multiple surfaces at one time, working constantly towards or within a single theme.  This is both an efficient way to use materials, but it also affords me the luxury of consistency.  There is so much information to process in any given day, and so many forms of stimulation, that the neuroplasticity of the modern mind is really being put to the test.  If I don’t focus on a single idea in the studio, or if a great deal of time has passed between paintings, the cohesiveness goes out the window and I am a blubbering, wayward mess.

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Heather Bridges Interview for the Virginia Gazette

http://www.vagazette.com/life/va-vg-kent-knowles-demonstration-0608-20160607-story.html

Kent Knowles admits he's a terrible portrait artist.  Realism has never been his focus, nor formula part of his process.  "A lot of artists do one thing," Knowles said. "I make an effort not to, because I think it's the spontaneity that kind of makes it interesting."

That spontaneity will take the spotlight June 11, as Knowles hosts an all-day painting demonstration at Linda Matney Gallery. The Georgia-based figurative painter will work on two canvases – one nearing completion and one completely blank.  He'll create surrounded by his creations.

The demonstration marks the close of Knowles' exhibit, "Passage," in the gallery, a display of finished and unfinished works spanning more than 15 years of Knowles' painting career.

Currently, Knowles serves as Associate Dean of Fine Arts and Foundation Studies at Savannah College of Art and Design. He said he's been out of the studio for a while.  "I'm a little curious what the work's going to look like," Knowles said, of the painting he'll start from scratch.

Knowles is used to the feeling, though. In starting any painting, he's never quite sure of the outcome.

"I try not to impose too much order on a painting," he said. "That's why I start out without any really agenda."

He compared the process to looking at the clouds. Eventually, a figure appears.

When Knowles paints, it's almost a mystical experience, said gallery owner John Lee Matney.

Unpredictable, yet guided.

"Every painting starts out with just kind of some random marks," Knowles said. "Really they're very organic, and they're tied to the physical act of just moving."

"I know a figure, most likely female, is going to emerge out of these overlapping lines when the painting starts," Knowles continued, "and it's just a matter of time before it does."

Though his more-recent works depict landscapes, many of Knowles' paintings place a female figure in an environment, often perilous.

Knowles believes the female figure captures simultaneous strength and vulnerability.

The environment, and everything it contains, captures something else.

"Right now, I feel like the mind is being barraged with information all the time," Knowles said. "Every human is kind of a victim of the world, in that there's more information than they can handle."

Rest assured Knowles will explain his perspective and his process, and eloquently so, as figures take shape on canvas during the demonstration.

"I think it's a good thing to see an artist's process in depth," Matney said. He believes the demonstration will appeal particularly to fellow artists and students, as well as art lovers and collectors.

Though Knowles will spend most of the demonstration painting solo, a special guest will join him in the morning – his 6-year-old daughter, Jane.

"She's a great artist," Knowles said.

Together, the two will approach a blank canvas. No planning, just painting.

"I think the spirit of (that) kind of innocence and lack of planning is an important aspect of art," Knowles said.

Bridges can be reached by phone at 757-345-2342.