Background

Karen Knorr was born on January 5, 1954, in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany.

Education

Karen Knorr spent her childhood in San Juan, Puerto Rico where she studied at San Juan School, Santurce from 1958 to 1963 and attended Saint John’s Preparatory School for the next five years.

She began her artistic training at Franconia College (closed in 1978), New Hampshire studying there from 1972 to 1973. Then, Knorr came to Paris where she studied art for three years. In 1976, she relocated to London and entered the Polytechnic of Central London (currently the University of Westminster) the following year. Knorr graduated in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors.

In 1988, she became a student of the University of Derby and received a Master of Arts degree two years later.

Career

Karen Knorr emerged to the art scene at the end of the 1970s.

One of her first works was a black and white series of photographs, Belgravia, that reflected the British lifestyle and its class system during the period of neoliberalism. The picture ‘Gentlemen’ was an example of such works.

Knorr continued to explore the cultural heritage of the United Kingdom throughout the following decades. She showed the authenticity of the architectural interiors interesting in terms of history, including Chiswick House, Osterley Park House, and the Dulwich Picture Gallery.

When Knorr’s early images examined the western culture by itself, her next project, ‘Academies’, this time in color, discovered the influence of consumption, transmission, and production on it. The series consisted of the pictures of the academies and museums she took while traveling across Europe completed by video and installations with wall text projections.

In her Fables series of the early 2000s, the photographer combined analog and digital techniques to reinterpret classical fables of Ovid, Aesop, and La Fontaine from the perspective of the modern tales of Disney and Attenborough. Such heritage sites like Carnavalet Museum, the Museum of Hunt and Nature in Paris, Chambord Castle and the Conde Museum in Chantilly Castle served as locations.

Another professional trip of Karen Knorr, this time to India, led to the appearance of the series which explored the culture of Rajput and Mughal and its perception of such issues as feminine subjectivity and animality. The images of various living beings from the small birds to lions were digitally incorporated into the interiors of Indian architectural monuments. Similar series featuring the temple sites of Nara, Kyoto, Tokyo, and Ohara were produced after the photographer’s trip to Japan.

The upcoming projects of the photographer are currently located in Italy, India, Japan, and the United States.

In addition to her visual works, including frequent commissions, Karen Knorr has also tried her hand in academics. She has taught and lectured around the world, including the University of Westminster, Goldsmiths, Harvard, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Nowadays, Knorr serves as a Professor of Photography at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, Surrey.

Achievements

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  Karen Knorr is an accomplished visual artist whose works are praised both by the art community and art amateurs.
  
  Knorr’s contributions have been marked by a variety of awards and prizes, including the National Endowment for the Arts Award, the Arts Council of England Award, the Pilar Citoler International Photography Award, and Nishieda Foundation award (shared with Shiho Kito) among others. The photographer has been a recipient of many grants, like London Arts Board Grant, Hasselblad Foundation Research Grant (Sweden), and one of the recent from the Royal Photographic Society as well.
  
  The works of Karen Knorr are the part of many notable collections around the world, including the Government Art Collection of England, British Council Collection, Tate London, Houston Museum of Fine Art, Centre Georges Pompidou, Moderna Museet in Stockholm, the National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto, and elsewhere.
  
  In 2018, Knorr’s photo ‘The Avatars of Devi, Zanana, Samode Palace’ was purchased for $21,250 at Christie's in New York City.

Works

More photos

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  • The Way of Ishq, Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi

  • Ganesha's Stride, Abha Mahal, Ahichhatragarh, Nagaur

  • Master of Seduction, Amer Fort, Amer

  • Immaculate Conception, Villa D’Este

  • Brief Encounter, Palazzina Cinese

  • The Sound of Rain, Junagarh Fort, Bikaner

  • Homage to Ustad Mansur, Red Fort, Agra

  • The Survivor, Deogarh Palace, Deogarh

  • The Wedding Guests, Belgravia Room

  • Krishna's Rasa Leela, Chitrasala, Bundi

  • In the books you will read the names of kings. Did the kings haul up the lumps of rock?

  • In what houses of gold glittering Lima did its builders live?

  • Even in fabled Atlantis, the night that the ocean engulfed it, The drowning still cried out for their slaves.

  • Minerva’s Owl, Palagonia

  • Mono No Aware, Shunko-in Temple, Kyoto

  • Journey to the Great Sage Jikko-In Temple, Ohara

  • Awakened to Emptiness, Hosen-in Temple, Ohara

  • Guardian of the Temple, Nazen-ji Temple, Kyoto

  • Victory of the Spirit, Sho-ren in Temple, Kyoto

  • Every Encounter Treasured, Obai-in, Kyoto

  • Form no Other than Emptiness, Obai-in, Kyoto

  • Conqueror of the World, Podar Haveli, Nawalgarh

  • The Lovesick Prince, Aam Khas, Junha Mahal, Dungarpur Palace

  • Krishna’s Crown, Jawa Mahal, Jaipur

  • The Messenger, Purana Qila, New Delhi

Views

Quotations: "Photography is for me an honest method of critical enquiry."

Membership

Karen Knorr is a member of the Contemporary Art Society.

References

• Karen Knorr's Official Website