Karen KnorrKaren Knorr was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany and was raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico in the 1960s. She finished her education in Paris and London. Karen has taught, exhibited and lectured internationally, including at Tate Britain, Tate Modern, The University of Westminster, Goldsmiths, Harvard and The Art Institute of Chicago. She studied at the University of Westminster in the mid-1970s, exhibiting photography that addressed debates in cultural studies and film theory concerning the ‘politics of representation’ practices which emerged during the late 1970s and early 1980s. She is currently Professor of Photography at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, Surrey. (5)
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"India Song & Fables"
Does Karen Knorr use photography to alter reality or to reflect it?
- Some of her photos in her Indian Song/Fables collection tackle issues, and some are just retellings of Islamic tales.(2) - Karen Knorr has spent the last few years photographing these bright and elaborate interiors of palaces. She shot these iconic rooms from very low positions, in order to identify with the animals gaze. - Karen Knorr made her career from examining the meaning of places; investigating rooms, houses and monuments, and using them to pose questions about colonialism, exoticism, gender, religion, politics and more. (2) - She is able to include her say on the injustices cleverly using, sometimes, invisible symbolism the animals represent because we are so rapped up in the aesthetic beauty of the scene. |
"Belgravia"
Does Karen Knorr use photography to show things that might be considered invisible?
- Karen Knorr’s work displays social constructs and issues around power.
- “Gentlemen” captures the sense of entitlement from members of various London clubs in the early 1980s. She portrayed “the everyday of the privileged minority”(1).Including texts that reflected and mocked “the language of power, privileged and patriarchy” (1).
- The Belgravia series describes class and power between the international and the wealthy in the beginning of Thatcherism and Reagonomics in 1979. As well as displaying the different gender positions within the family.(3)
- The idea of social injustice is present throughout all of her various works. Although the wealthy themselves aren’t invisible, portraits of them are often portrayed as glamorous and idled but the underlying message that often goes unnoticed is the lack of fairness and equality in life. In an abstract way, this idea is invisible to viewers in our day-to-day lives.
- Karen Knorr’s work displays social constructs and issues around power.
- “Gentlemen” captures the sense of entitlement from members of various London clubs in the early 1980s. She portrayed “the everyday of the privileged minority”(1).Including texts that reflected and mocked “the language of power, privileged and patriarchy” (1).
- The Belgravia series describes class and power between the international and the wealthy in the beginning of Thatcherism and Reagonomics in 1979. As well as displaying the different gender positions within the family.(3)
- The idea of social injustice is present throughout all of her various works. Although the wealthy themselves aren’t invisible, portraits of them are often portrayed as glamorous and idled but the underlying message that often goes unnoticed is the lack of fairness and equality in life. In an abstract way, this idea is invisible to viewers in our day-to-day lives.
Sources:
1) O’Hagan, Sean. “Gentlemen by Karen Knorr review- eminently clubbable” The Guardian, October 31, 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/oct/31/gentlemen-karen-knorr-london-clubs-mocking-rich-powerful. Nov. 01, 2016.
2) Green, Penelope. “In Karen Knorr’s Photography, an Iconic Sense of Place” The New York Times, November 2, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/garden/karen-knorrs-photography-offers-an-ironic-sense-of-place-qa.html. Nov. 01, 2016.
3) Bergueta, Ana. “Interview Photo Espana 2008” Karen Knorr, 2008. http://karenknorr.com/writings/interview-photo-espana-2008/. Nov. 01, 2016.
4) “Karen Knorr” Contemporary Art Society, http://www.contemporaryartsociety.org/artist-members/karen-knorr/. Nov. 01, 2016.
5) "Karen Knorr" About, http://karenknorr.com/about/. Nov. 01, 2016.
1) O’Hagan, Sean. “Gentlemen by Karen Knorr review- eminently clubbable” The Guardian, October 31, 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/oct/31/gentlemen-karen-knorr-london-clubs-mocking-rich-powerful. Nov. 01, 2016.
2) Green, Penelope. “In Karen Knorr’s Photography, an Iconic Sense of Place” The New York Times, November 2, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/garden/karen-knorrs-photography-offers-an-ironic-sense-of-place-qa.html. Nov. 01, 2016.
3) Bergueta, Ana. “Interview Photo Espana 2008” Karen Knorr, 2008. http://karenknorr.com/writings/interview-photo-espana-2008/. Nov. 01, 2016.
4) “Karen Knorr” Contemporary Art Society, http://www.contemporaryartsociety.org/artist-members/karen-knorr/. Nov. 01, 2016.
5) "Karen Knorr" About, http://karenknorr.com/about/. Nov. 01, 2016.