Selected Works by Brian Knep
September 26 – December 18, 2019
Artist Statement
This exhibit features works from the Aging Series and the Traces Series. Both were produced during a residency at Harvard Medical School where I used scientific tools and techniques to explore connection, struggle and meaning. Inquiries regarding purchase of work should contact Brian Knep directly at brian@blep.com
AGING SERIES
In early 2007 I began photographing and video-taping a model organism, the frog Xenopus tropicalis. With thousands of pictures showing them changing from tadpole to juvenile, I created a continuous video showing the frogs slowly growing, transforming, and cycling from tadpole to juvenile and back. The resulting prints and video formed the basis for a series of works including Frog Time and Frog Triplets, both non-repeating video installations, and Twin Paths, a series of 16 photographic prints. The pieces have shown at the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Peekskill, NY; Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, NY, NY: Judi Rotenberg Gallery, Boston, MA; and the McColl Center for Visual Art, Charlotte, NC. The installation won the IBM Cyberarts Innovation Award in 2007.
TRACES SERIES
These pieces are based on studies of Caenorhabditis elegans, a microscopic worm that is one of the most studied organisms in the scientific community. It is often used to study aging, and in fact researchers have found ways to triple its lifespan by manipulating its genes. For months I worked with scientists at Harvard Medical School who were studying worm aging, eventually managing my own collection of worms and trying to find ways to connect to these microscopic creatures. Experiments included introducing the worms to bacteria and fungi collected from my body, thereby allowing the worms to mingle with my recent intimates, and building microscopic constructions for the worms to explore. The installation includes prints, high-definition videos, schematics of the microscopic constructions, and the molds used to make these sculptures.
Artist Bio
Brian Knep is a media artist whose works range from large-scale interactive installations to microscopic sculptures for nematodes. He was the first artist-in-residence at Harvard Medical School, working side-by-side with scientists, using their tools and techniques to explore alternative meanings and ways of connecting to the world. Knep’s Deep Wounds, commissioned by the Office for the Arts at Harvard University, has won awards from Ars Electronica, the International Association of Art Critics, and Americans for the Arts, who selected it as one of the best public-art projects of 2007. His work has also been shown at the Cleveland Art Museum, Denver Art Museum, Milwaukee Art Museum, RISD Museum, Aldrich Center for Contemporary Art, and others; and he has grants and awards from Creative Capital, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the LEF Foundation, among others.
Knep holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science and a Master’s degree in Computer Science, both from Brown University. He also studied ceramics at the Radcliffe Ceramics Studio and glass blowing at Avon and Diablo Glass. Early in his career he worked as a Senior Software Engineer at Industrial Light & Magic, working on films such as Jurassic Park, Mission Impossible, and Star Trek: Generations. While there he developed tools including two for which he and three others were awarded technical Academy Awards. Knep also helped found Nearlife, a high-end design and technology company, creating interactive experiences for science and children’s museums. His publications have appeared in computer graphics and computer-human interaction journals.
Knep lives and works in Boston and is represented by Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, NY, NY.