Silke Otto-Knapp

Motifs range from choreographed groups of figures, historical stage sets, as well as pared-down landscapes. Otto-Knapp works with watercolour on canvas using a process of removal and accumulation of pigment in order to create spaces where the flatness of the pictorial space intersects with an illusionistic construction of space.

For Liverpool Biennial 2018, Silke Otto-Knapp was commissioned to produce a new large-scale work for the fourth-floor gallery of Bluecoat. Like a classic frieze, the painting  wrapped around the perimeters of the space, combining figures in group formations with abstract panels. The painting was accompanied by an artist’s book produced in collaboration with Stuart Bertolotti-Bailey, which was displayed in the historic women’s common room at the Victoria Gallery & Museum.

Recent exhibitions include Midway Contemporary, Minneapolis, USA (2017/18) Regen Projects, Los Angeles, USA (2017); Mary Boone Gallery, New York, USA (2017); greengrassi, London, UK (2016); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, USA (2016); Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada (2015); Migros Museum, Zurich, Switzerland (2014); Camden Arts Centre, London, UK (2014); Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria (2014); Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark (2013); Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, Canada (2012); and Tate Britain, London, UK (2011).

Silke Otto-Knapp at Liverpool Biennial 2018

A series of images following one from the other (Eine aufeinander folgende Reihe von Bildern), 2018
Watercolour on canvas
Exhibited at Bluecoat

A series of images following one from the other (Eine aufeinander folgende Reihe von Bildern) (Back Cover), 2018
Watercolour on canvas
Exhibited at Victoria Gallery & Museum

A series of images following one from the other (Eine Reihe von aufeinander folgenden Bildern), 2018
Artist book, edition of 600
Published by Compagnia, London
Exhibited at Victoria Gallery & Museum

All commissioned by Liverpool Biennial