Tackling the traditions of romantic landscape painting through the constraints of stage design, a new body of work by German artist Silke Otto-Knapp (b.1970) opens at the in January. In the artist’s first London-based solo show since her 2005 Art Now presentation at Tate Modern, Otto-Knapp – best known for her large scale canvases depicting scenes inspired by stage performances and landscapes – presents work rendered almost entirely in black and silver pigments to create a stage-lit effect. The monochrome compositions address the visual contrivances in performance and landscape with a particular focus on lighting. The work also questions issues of decorative surface, spatial depth and pictorial construction.
Taking inspiration from Anna Halprin’s stage built into a forest at her mountain home north of San Francisco, these compositions bring nature and artifice into direct communion as the trees themselves act as a frame for the space of the stage – confusing issues of reality and artifice. The delicate rendering of unapologetically romantic and fantastical scenarios (moon-lit forests, romantic landscapes or ballet performances) in this body of work could also be seen as a post-feminist proposition.
Alongside the paintings, the exhibition will include new collages and etchings developed during the artist’s residency at , Canada. The central motif of performance will also be expanded in the supporting public programme which is planned to include a major new performance in the gallery spaces by LA-based Flora Weigman.
Silke Otto-Knapp, 17 January – 30 March 2014, , London, Arkwright Road, London NW3 6DG.
Credits
1. Three Seascapes 2013, 42 Unique Etchings, 335.3 x 533.4 cm overall, courtesy of Silke Otto-Knapp.
