Gerhardt Knodel

{{Infobox person

| name = Gerhardt Knodel

| birth_name = Gerhardt Gunther Knodel

| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1940}}

| birth_place = Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.

| education = University of California, Los Angeles, California State University, Long Beach

| occupation = Textile and fiber artist, installation artist, academic administrator, educator

| website = {{URL|https://gknodel.com/}}

}}

Gerhardt Gunther Knodel (born 1940),{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ap8WAQAAMAAJ |title=Diverse Directions: the Fiber Arts: October 13-November 17, 1978, Museum of Art, Washington State University, Pullman : December 17, 1978-January 28, 1979, the Henry Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle |date=1978 |publisher=Washington State University Press |pages=26 |language=en}} is an American contemporary textile artist, academic administrator, and educator.{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Jack |date=2023-04-14 |title=Artist Gerhardt Knodel Shares a Glimpse of His Newest Project |url=https://www.hourdetroit.com/art-topics/artist-gerhardt-knodel-shares-a-glimpse-of-his-newest-project/ |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=Hour Detroit Magazine |language=en-US}} He was the head of the fiber arts department at Cranbrook Academy of Art from 1970 to 1997, and also served as the school director from 1997 to 2007.{{Cite book |last1=Halper |first1=Vicki |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0LjqCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA69 |title=Choosing Craft: The Artist's Viewpoint |last2=Douglas |first2=Diane |date=2009-05-15 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |isbn=978-0-8078-8992-3 |pages=69 |language=en}} In 2016, he was named a fellow of the American Craft Council (ACC).{{Cite web |title=Masters: Gerhardt Knodel |url=https://www.craftcouncil.org/magazine/article/masters-gerhardt-knodel |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=American Craft Council (ACC) |language=en}}

Early life and education

Knodel was born in 1940, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, born into family of German heritage.{{Cite web |title=Gerhardt Knodel |url=https://www.craftcouncil.org/recognition/gerhardt-knodel |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=American Craft Council (ACC) |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=August 3, 2004 |title=Overview Collection Information: Oral history interview with Gerhardt Knodel |url=https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-gerhardt-knodel-12740 |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution |language=en}} His family moved when he was a child and he was raised in Los Angeles, California.

Knodel studied art at Los Angeles City College (LACC), the University of California, Los Angeles (B.A. degree, 1961), and the California State University, Long Beach (M.A. degree, 1970).{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IalPAAAAMAAJ&q=Gerhardt+Knodel+1940 |title=Miniature Fiber Arts: A National Exhibition |date=1980 |publisher=Textile Workshops |isbn=978-0-9604110-0-9 |pages=112 |language=en |issue=16444}} While attending LACC, Knodel studied under Mary Jane Leland (1923–2022) in the Bauhaus school style.

Career

After graduation, Knodel worked for six years as a high school teacher in Los Angeles. He took a job at Cranbrook Academy of Art, initially as an artist in residence in the fiber department. Knodel worked at Cranbrook Academy of Art from 1970 until 2007, and he held two roles; head of the fiber arts department from 1970 to 1997, and the school director from 1997 to 2007. Notable students of his include Nick Cave, and Katarina Weslien.

His textile work has been used in the creation of installations, as wallpaper, in theater, and for architectural commissions.{{Cite web |title=» Gerhardt Knodel |url=https://www.craftinamerica.org/artist/gerhardt-knodel/ |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=Craft In America}} His series, Recovery Games (2005–2014) was artwork focused on gaming-based interactions paired with visual work as a method of understanding different strategies.{{Cite journal |last=Stevens |first=Brooks Harris |date=2016-01-02 |title=Let the Games Begin!: Gerhardt Knodel |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14759756.2015.1106147 |journal=Textile |language=en |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=146–151 |doi=10.1080/14759756.2015.1106147 |s2cid=183088117 |issn=1475-9756}}

Knodel's work can be found in museum collections, including at the Smithsonian American Art Museum,{{Cite web |title=Gerhardt Knodel |url=https://americanart.si.edu/artist/gerhardt-knodel-2674 |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) |language=en}} Rhode Island School of Design Museum,{{Cite web |title=Etude 3 |url=https://risdmuseum.org/art-design/collection/etude-3-1987126 |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=RISD Museum}} and Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA).{{Cite web |title=Second Nature, Gerhardt Knodel |url=http://collections.artsmia.org/art/3518/second-nature-gerhardt-knodel |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA)}}

Exhibitions

1984, Gerhardt Knodel, solo exhibition, Elements Gallery, 90 Hudson Street, New York City, New York, U.S.{{Cite news |date=April 12, 1984 |title=Calendar: Orchids, Art |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/12/garden/calendar-orchids-art.html |url-access=subscription |work=The New York Times |pages=C-7 |issn=0362-4331}}
1986, Craft Today: Poetry of the Physical, group exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Crafts (now Museum of Arts and Design), New York City, New York, U.S.{{Cite news |last=Glueck |first=Grace |author-link=Grace Glueck |date=October 23, 1986 |title=Design Notebook; Craft's Increasing Domain |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/23/garden/design-notebook-craft-s-increasing-domain.html |url-access=subscription |work=The New York Times |pages=C-1 |issn=0362-4331}}
1989, Fiber Explorations, New Work in Fiber Art, group exhibition, Staller Center for the Arts at the State University in Stony Brook (now Stony Brook University), Stony Brook, New York, U.S.{{Cite news |last=Freudenheim |first=Betty |date=November 19, 1989 |title=Artists Experiment With Fiber |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/19/nyregion/artists-experiment-with-fiber.html |url-access=subscription |work=The New York Times |pages=L1-12 |issn=1553-8095}}

References

External links

[https://gknodel.com/ Official website]
[https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-gerhardt-knodel-12740 Oral history interview with Gerhardt Knodel, 2004 August 3] from the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

Category:1940 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century American male artists

Category:21st-century American male artists

Category:Artists from Milwaukee

Category:Artists from Los Angeles

Category:California State University, Long Beach alumni

Category:Cranbrook Academy of Art faculty

Category:Los Angeles City College alumni

Category:Textile artists from California

Category:Textile artists from Michigan

Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni