Born 1958, New York, NY. Lives and works in Redding, CT.
Karla Knight is a visual artist born in New York City and currently living and working in Connecticut. Her work has been widely exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions, and she is represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Walker Art Center, and Emily Fisher Landau, among others. She has been the recipient of various awards and fellowships including The MacDowell Colony, Yaddo Corporation, and two Connecticut Artist Fellowships. Karla Knight's work consists of imaginary language, objects, diagrams, and symbols. It forms a pictorial language of symbol and writing whose underlying system is not known. Simultaneously ancient and futuristic, the work creates an alternative culture which plays with the mystery of life, and what lies hidden underneath.
EDUCATION
1980 Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, BFA Painting
1980 RISD European Honors Program, Rome, Italy
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022
Karla Knight: Road Trip, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
2021
Karla Knight: Navigator, curated by Amy Smith-Stewart, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT
2020
Notes from the Lightship, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
2018
Spaceship Drawings, EBK Gallery, Hartford, CT
2010
Life in Space: Charcoal Drawings, Artspace, New Haven, CT
2004
Pondering the Marvelous, Wave Hill Glyndor Gallery, Bronx, NY
1990
Lorence-Monk Gallery, New York, NY
1987
Lorence-Monk Gallery, New York, NY
1986
Dart Gallery, Chicago, IL
1981
William Francis Gallery, Providence, RI
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023
Rituals of Devotion, McEvoy Foundation for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
2022
Thaw: Winter Group Show, The Landing Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019
Summer Exhibition: Recent Works, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
2018
April 14, 1561, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
21st Century Cyphers, 516 Arts, Albuquerque, NM
2017
Underlying system is not known, Western Exhibitions, Chicago, IL
Rhyme & Reason, Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism Gallery, Hartford, CT
2016
Intuitive Progression, Fisher Landau Center for Art, Long Island City, NY
Magic, curated by Tiffany Calvert, Mercer County Community College, NJ
2015
Digging: A Group Show, curated by Becky Kindder, Brooklyn Open Studios, Brooklyn, NY
2014
Momenta Art Benefit, Brooklyn, NY
2012
Diagram, Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT
Momenta Art Benefit, Brooklyn, NY
Nurture Art Benefit, Brooklyn, NY
2011
Drawing and Illustration, Maslow Study Gallery for Contemporary Art, Marywood University, Scranton, PA
2010
All Things Being Equal, curated by Tiffany Calvert, Raritan Valley Community College, Bridgewater, NJ
Power to the People, Feature, Inc., New York, NY
2009
FIVE DECADES OF PASSION Part Two: The Founding of the Center, 1989-1991, Fisher Landau Center for Art, Long Island City, NY
Contemporary Women Artists: Work on Paper, Maslow Study Gallery for Contemporary Art, Marywood University, Scranton, PA
2008
Pierogi Flatfiles, New York, NY
Desire, Art Forum Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Worlds Away, Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism Gallery, Hartford, CT
2007
Paper, Fisher Landau Center for Art, Long Island City, NY
Pierogi Flatfiles, New York, NY
Artnews Projects, Berlin, DE
2006
Pierogi Flatfiles, New York, NY
Statements and Symbols: Selected Paintings and Prints from the Maslow Collection, Marywood University Suraci Gallery, Scranton, PA
2002
40 by 40, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York
2001
Double Visions, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York
2000
Quirky, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York
Ambiguity: Layers of Information, Contemporary Gallery, Marywood University, Scranton, PA
1998
Imaginary Friend, curated by Nayland Blake, Rupert Goldsworthy Gallery, New York, NY
1997
Invitational, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York, NY
1995
Selections, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York, NY
1993
The Return of the Cadavre Exquis, Drawing Center, New York, NY
1991
New Works on Paper, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
1990
Art Against AIDS, Washington, DC
Lorence-Monk Gallery, New York, NY
1989
Group Show, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MA
Fawbush Gallery, New York, NY
1988
Works on Paper, Curt Marcus Gallery, New York, NY
Dart Gallery, Chicago, IL
The Power of Drawings, Center for Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
1987
Group Painting Exhibition, Lorence-Monk Gallery, New York, NY
Art Against AIDS, Lorence-Monk Gallery, New York, NY
1986
Painting the Object, Lorence-Monk Gallery, New York, NY
1985
Real Surreal, Lorence-Monk Gallery, New York, NY
1980
European Honors Thesis Show, RISD, Palazzo-Cenci, Rome, Italy
Two-person exhibition, Woods-Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2022
Packard, Cassie. “Karla Knight On Living With the Unknown,” Artforum, June 21.
McCoy, Anne. “Karla Knight: Road Trip,” The Brooklyn Rail, June 7.
Fateman, Johanna. “Karla Knight: Road Trip,” The New Yorker, June 3.
Battista, Kathy. “ArtSeen: Karla Knight Navigator,” The Brooklyn Rail, March 1.
Keenan, Annabel. “Karla Knight at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum,” artillery, March 8.
Sharma, Manu. “Karla Knight Traversing Beyond the Material,” stirworld, March 1.
Keats, Jonathan. “Better Than The X-Files: Artist Karla Knight Probes Alien Worlds In Order To Observe Our Own,” Forbes, January 11.
Rosenberg, Karen. “In Her Studio, the Paranormal Is Normal,” The New York Times, January 6.
2021
Saltz, Jerry. “The Best New York Art Shows of 2021,” Vulture, December 16.
Halle, Howard. “How I Made This: Karla Knight’s Otherworldly Art,” ARTnews, October 13.
Heinrich, Will. “These Are the Art Shows and Events to See This Season,” The New York Times, September 17.
Ma, Sophia. “Trusting Hands at Andrew Edlin Gallery,” Art Spiel, September 20.
Steinfeld, Daniela. “Independent Art Fair: Karla Knight,” Voices on Art Podcast, August 17.
2020
Benfield, Thomas. “The Couch Gallery Crawl,” Vulture, July 10.
Goodman, Jonathan. “Karla Knight: Notes from the Lightship,” The Brooklyn Rail, June 1.
Laster, Paul. “Upcycling: 5 Artists Inventively Using Reclaimed Materials,” Art & Object, April 6.
Haber, John. “Believe It or Not,” Haber’s Art Reviews, April 1.
Saltz, Jerry. “The Art World Goes Dark,” Vulture, March 20.
Zanardi, Eva. “Independent 2020: A Cornucopia of Leading-Edge Art,” Art & Object, March 8.
Saltz, Jerry. “13 Great Things to Do in New York,” Vulture, March 2.
2019
Smith, Roberta. "What to See in New York Art Galleries This Week," The New York Times, January 9.
2018
Halle, Howard. "April 14, 1561," Time Out New York, December 17.
Roberts, Kathaleen. "21st Century Cyphers," Albuquerque Journal, May 13.
Dunne, Susan. "Karla Knight's Spaceship Drawings at EBK in Hartford," Hartford Courant, June 16.
2016
Barnes, Steve. “Intuitive Progression,” TimesLedger, August 25.
2014
“Ground Control,” Post Road Magazine, Issue 26.
2012
Dunne, Susan. “Diagram at Real Art Ways,” The Hartford Courant, November 14.
Samelson, Henry. Buddy of Work, February 19.
2010
Detrani, Geoffrey. “Knowing and Forgetting,” New Haven Advocate, April 5.
2004
“You and Them!” The New York Times, October 31.
Wave Hill News, Autumn.
“Natural Notions,” The Riverdale Press, September 23.
1991
Brooklyn Museum Newsletter, Summer.
1989
Dorsey, John. "Works by Emerging Artists," Baltimore Sun, February.
1988
Cohrs, Timothy. “Karla Knight,” Arts, January.
1987
Cameron, Dan. "Opening Salvos, Part One," Arts, December.
1986
Cohrs, Timothy. “Group Show,” Arts, February.
Bomb, Spring.
Saltz, Jerry. Beyond Boundaries, New York’s New Art, Alfred van der Marck Editions.
COLLECTIONS
The Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY
Chase Manhattan Bank, New York, NY
Emily Fisher Landau, Long Island City, NY
Hart-Abrams, Inc.
Maslow Collection, Scranton, PA
McCrory Corporation
Middlebury College Museum of Art, Middlebury, VT
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Prudential, Inc., Newark, NJ
Tamayo Museum, Mexico City, MX
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
AWARDS/FELLOWSHIPS/RESIDENCIES
2018
Yaddo Corporation, Saratoga Springs, NY: Artist Residency
2016
Yaddo Corporation, Saratoga Springs, NY: Artist Residency
2015
Connecticut Office of the Arts: Artist Fellowship
2014
The MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH: Fellowship
2012
Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant: Nominee
2006
Connecticut Office of the Arts: Artist Fellowship