Christopher Knowles
Born: New York City, May 4,1959
Lives and works in New York
Education
Montessori School Brooklyn Heights 1965-1967
Adams School 1967-1970
Buckingham School 1970-1973
Oneida School 1973-1974
O.D. Heck School 1973-1974
Solo Exhibitions
2009
‘Correspondences,” Galerie Martin Janda, Vienna (with Karl Holmqvist; curated by Matthew Higgs)
2004
Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York
1985
‘Drawings and Typings,’ Museum Boymans-Van Beuningen, Rotterdam
1979
‘Everyday Business,’ Open Eye Theater, New York
‘Red and Green,’ Holly Solomon Gallery, New York
1978
‘About Earth & Universes: paintings by Christopher Knowles, Holly Solomon
Gallery, New York
‘Typing Work,’ Holly Solomon Gallery, New York
1976
‘A Typing Work Show,’ The Kitchen, New York
1975
‘Typed Designs & Poems,’ Byrd Hoffman Studio, New York
1974
'Map of New York City,' Byrd Hoffman Studio, New York
Group Exhibitions
2012
“Ecstatic Alphabets/Heaps of Language,” MoMA, New York
2011
'En el primer cercle," Fundacio Antoni Tapies, Barcelona, Spain
"Gold Records," Art Blog Art Blog, NY
"Two Colors," curated by Clay Hapaz, Elisabeth Ivers Gallery and Kathleen Cullen Fine Art, New York
2010
‘Law of the Jungle,’ Lehmann Maupin Gallery, NY
2009
‘Visions of the Frontier,” curated by Robert Wilson, Institut Valencia d’Art Modern
‘Poor. Old. Tired. Horse,” Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
‘Character Generator,” Eleven Rivington, New York
‘Niet Normaal: Difference on Display,” Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam
‘Just What Are They Saying,’ Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, New Orleans, curated by Beth Rudin deWoody
‘The Labyrinth Wall,’ Exit Art, New York
2008
‘Typed,’ Sadie Coles, London
‘Glossolalia: Languages of Drawing,’ Museum of Modern Art, New York
2007
‘Get Lost: Artists Map Downtown New York,’ New Museum Project, New York
‘Learn to Read,’ Tate Modern, London
“Extraordinary Rendition,” NoguerasBlanchard, Barcelona
Allston Skirt Gallery, Boston
2006
Herald Street, project room, London
“25 x 25,” Cereal Art, Philadelphia, PA
“Dereconstruction,” curated by Matthew Higgs, Barbara Gladstone Gallery,
New York
“Of Mice and Men: 4th Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art,” Berlin, Germany
“Down by Law,” Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
2005
“Looking at Words: The Formal Presence of Text in Modern and Contemporary Works on Paper,” Andrea Rosen Gallery
2004
‘Open House: Working in Brooklyn,’ Brooklyn Art Museum, New York
2002
‘To Whom It May Concern,’ CCA Wattis Institute, San Francisco, CA
2000
‘THE END: An Independent Vision of Contemporary Culture, 1982-2000, Exit Art,
New York
1997
‘La Tradition,’ Exit Art, New York
1984
‘The Innovative Escape,’ Holly Solomon Gallery, New York
1982
‘Group Exhibition,’ The Castelli-Goodman-Solomon Gallery, Easthampton, NY
‘New Drawing in America,’ The Drawing Center, New York
‘The Destroyed Print,’ Pratt Manhattan Center Gallery
1981
‘Art on Paper,’ Weatherspoon Art Gallery, University of North Carolina at
Greensboro (cat.)
‘Emblems & Paint,’ Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY (cat.)
‘Summer Light,’ Penthouse Exhibition, Museum of Modern Art, New York
‘Summer Group Show,’ Holly Solomon Gallery, New York
‘Out of New York,’ Hamilton College, Clinton New York City
‘Poetic Visions,’ Otis/Parsons Art Gallery, New York
1980 ‘27th Annual Art Exhibition,’ Bayonne Jewish Community Center, Bayonne NJ
‘Visual Diaries,’ Alex Rosenberg Gallery, New York (cat.)
‘Die Neuen Wilden,’ Aachen, West Germany (cat.)
‘Les Nouveaux Fauves, Neue Galeerie/Sammlung Ludwig
1979
‘Mind Child Architecture,’ The Newark Museum, Newark, NJ
‘Words and Images,’ Philadelphia College of Art, Philadephia PA
‘Summer Group Show, Holly Solomon Gallery, New York
‘The Stage Show,’ Museum of Modern Art, New York
‘Small is Beautiful,’ Traveling Exhibition
1978
‘The Music Show,’ Holly Solomon Gallery and Artists Space, New York
‘Storytelling in Art,’ Museum of the American Foundation for the Arts, Miami FL.
‘New Art for the New Year,’ Penthouse Exhibition, Museum of Modern Art,
New York
1977
‘Audiotape of Original Recordings,’ Musee Galleria, Paris
‘Typed Designs and
‘Patterning & Decoration,’ Museum of the American Foundation for the Arts,
Miami, FL
‘Surrogates/Self Portraits,’ Holly Solomon Gallery, New York
‘Space Needles and Other Typings,’ The Drawing Center, New York
1976
‘Typed Designs and Poems,’ Foster White Gallery, Seattle, WA
‘Typed Designs, Poems, Drawings,’ Portland Center for Visual Art, Portland OR
1974
‘Typed Designs and Poems-Audiotape of Original Recordings,’ Musee Galliera,
Paris
Public Collections
Museum Ludwig (Dr. Peter Ludwig) Aachen, Cologne
Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Published Work:
Drawings Rotterdam: House Bebert, 1985
Typings New York: Vehicle Editions, 1979
Christpher Knowles Typings Rotterdam: Publishing House Bebert, 1987
Poetry in Publications
“Get Wreck,” Roof IV, 1978; “He Was the Most,” So & So, 1978; “Mandy, Brandy,” The World, 1978; “Letter to Paris,” Traveler’s Digest, 1977; “Loof and Let Dime,” Unmuzzled Ox, 1977; “Tree
Poem,” The Village Voice, 1977; “Everything is Beautiful,” A Horse With No Name,” The New Yorker, 1976; “I Feel the Earth Move,” (Give Me Love) Give Me Peace On Earth,” Andy Warhol’s
Interview, 1976; “Rock On,” “Hello It’s Me,” The Village Voice, 1975; “Searching Bags All Together,” “Are You Really in the Ears,” “Longfellow Serenade, Ear Magazine, 1975
Poetry in Anthologies
“Get Wreck,” Text-Sound Texts, Edited by Richard Kostelanetz, 1980; “Once Upon a Time,” Wonders, Writings, and Drawings for the Child in Us All (Rolling Stone Press, 1980); “The Life and Times of Maddom Dame,” “Dia Log/Curious George,” Scenarios (NY: Assembling Press, 1980)
Poetry Readings
112 Greene Street, NYC (with Cindy Lubar, 1978); Performance Fire Festival, NYC (with Cindy Lubar, 1978); St. Mark’s Church, NYC (with Robert Wilson, 1975; Brooklyn Academy of Music, NYC (with Cindy Lubar for Andy deGroat & Dancers, 1975; Tibet Center Benefit, NYC (with
Robert Wilson, 1975); Byrd Hoffman Studio, 1975, The Wind, (with Robert Wilson, text by Christopher Knowles); Longhouse, East Hampton, NY
Perfomance Work
1999
“THE DAYS BEFORE,” Robert Wilson Production, New York State Theatre, Lincoln Center, NY, text by Christopher Knowles & Umberto Eco.
1998
“70 Angels on the Façade,” Robert Wilson Production, text by Christopher Knowles and Lisa Ponti
1997
“Rescue,” Laurie Anderson’s Meltdown Performance featuring Laurie Anderson, Christopher Knowles, Lou Reed, Robert Wilson and others.
1996
“Come Out Under the Red Rock,” performer in Robert Wilson production, Weimar, Germany, Sicily, Italy
1994
“And Then There Were Legos,” Theatre for a New City, NYC, (puppeteer, scenic
artist)
“TSE,” Performer in Robert Wilson production, Sicily, Italy
1993
“Wonderlust Swirling Through My Brain,” University Settlement, NYC
1992
“Hallmark World,” The Arts at St. Ann’s, NYC (performer/scenic artist)
1991
“Grace for Grace,” Cathedral of St. John the Divine duet with Robert Wilson
1989
“Windows Two: Green Thought in the Green Shade,” with Richard Rutkowski,
Agassiz Theatre, Cambridge MA, (performer/collaborator)
1989
“ Windows One,” with Richard Rutkowski, performer/collaborator, Boston Film &
Video Foundation
“Requiem,” film by Alex Steyermark
1988
“The Cat’s Pajamas,” with Richard Rutkowski, The Music Hall, Cambridge, MA
1987
“Parzival,” Robert Wilson Production, lead role, Text by Christopher Knowles & Tankred Dorst, Thalia Theatre, Hamburg Germany
1985
“Reading / Performance 1969-1984,” Text by Christopher Knowles, Robert
Wilson, Ben Halley, Chris Moore and David Byrne, Dublin, Belgium, Cambridge
MA
1982
“Glabal and Collection,” Westbeth Theatre Center, New York City, Suny
Purchase, NY
1979/80
“Dia Log / Network,” collaboration with Robert Wilson) Text by Christopher
Knowles, Brussels, Warsaw, Rotterdam, Turin, Milan, New York
1978
“Dia Log / Network,” (collaboration with Robert Wilson) Text by Christopher
Knowles and Robert Wilson, Munich, Florence, Paris, Boston, Amsterdam,
Minneapolis, Chicago
1977
“The Network Play,” (collaboration with Cindy Lubar) Ontario, Canada
1976/77
“Emily Likes the T.V. ,” (collaboration with Cindy Lubar)The Kitchen, NYC,
And/Or Gallery, Seattle WA, Port Jefferson, NY
1976
“Dia Log (3),” Text by Christopher Knowles & Robert Wilson performed by
Christopher Knowles and Robert Wilson, Lucinda Childs Whitney Museum, New
York, Rutgers University, NJ, Corcoran Gallery, Washington DC, Portland
Oregon
“This is the One,” (collaboration with Cindy Lubar)
“Spaceman,” (performer in Robert Wilson production) The Kitchen, New York
“A Solo Piece,” The Kitchen, New York
“Einstein on the Beach,” by Robert Wilson and Philip Glass, text by Christopher
Knowles, Samuel M. Johnson & Lucinda Childs
1975/6
“Dia Log (2),” Text by Christopher Knowles & Robert Wilson
(performance/collaboration with Robert Wilson) Public Theatre, Whitney
Museum, Rutgers, University Corcoran Gallery, Washington DC
1975
“Dialog of the Sundance Kid,” Text by Christopher Knowles & Robert Wilson performed by Christopher Knowles and Robert Wilson
Solo Performance, Byrd Hoffman Studio, New York, Iran, Milan, Rome
“$ Value of Man,” text by Christopher Knowles & Robert Wilson,
(performance/collaboration with Robert Wilson), Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York
1974
“A Mad Man A Mad Giant A Mad Dog A Mad Urge, Text by Christopher Knowles
& Robert Wilson, perfomance/collaboration with Robert Wilson) Shiraz, Iran,
Kennedy Center, Washing ton D.C.
“The Life and Times of Dave Clark,” (performer, Robert Wilson production)Sao
Paolo, Brazil
“A Letter for Queen Victoria, (collaborator/performer, Robert Wilson production)
Spoleto, Italy, multiple venues in France, Belgrade, Zurich, New York City
1973
“The Life and Times of Joseph Stalin,” Text (and performance) by Christopher
Knowles
Audio Recordings
1999
“Other Rooms, other voices: Audio works by artists,” Includes Robert Wilson
reading works by Christoher Knowles; for Swiss Radio Zurich
1998
“Aquilarco,” by Giovanni Sollima, text by Christopher Knowles, read by Robert Wilson
Set Designs
1975-80
Designed and painted sets for five Dialog performance pieces written and
performed in collaboration with Robert Wilson (Rome , Milan, Torino, Munich, Florence, Paris, Brussels, Warsaw, Rotterdam, Washington DC, Chicago, Minneapolis, New York City
1979
Designed and painted set pieces for “Everyday Business,” by Cindy Lubar, NYC
1977
Designed (typed) backdrop for choreographer Andy DeGroat’s, “Angie’s Waltz
(toured in Europe and New York State”
Interviews
1989
with Laurence Shyer for Robert Wilson and his Collaborators (published by
Theatre Communications Group, 1990)
1977
with Maxime de la Falaise in Andy Warhol’s Interview
1976
with Lisa Bear, Willoughby Sharp and Robert Wilson