Brush and black ink on Strathmore paper, framed.
19.75 x 27.5 x 1.5 inches.
Medium art shipping rate.
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From a 2010 exhibit HIGH LIFE at the Eleanor Harwood Gallery in San Francisco.
“I draw from actual life, using primary sources. For me, there is more truth in that. Relying on secondary images, say photographs, results in a flattened, dead reality. I need to see how something sits on a surface. I want to create lively, vital, even iconic images.”
In this series of still lifes, Knobel draws from his immediate surroundings. Objects are depicted without context of a background, yet remain anchored in space with a shadow. These isolated tableaus function as characters that share darkly humorous tales of modern love, drink, lust, possession, self-deception and foolishness.
“I love the role of the storyteller, whether in the guise of the singer, poet or visual artist. To me, the darker the story, the greater the possibility for humor and insight. Laugh or cry, I say.”
These narratives rely in part on cultural sampling, and yet remain open to interpretation. There isn’t a sense that you have to drink the Kool-Aid per se, but there is a definite point of view. His strategy of hijacking logos and graphics in commercially produced goods seems to suggest there is a shared story of our culture. Yet there is a reverse mapping of shared desires and fears displayed wholeheartedly on his objects, on his own terms. With a style that is part punk, part design, part Saturday morning cartoon, Knobel’s voice questions, criticizes and celebrates the ludicrousness of it all.”