Gerhardt Knodel | |
---|---|
Born | Gerhardt Gunther Knodel 1940 (age 84–85) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
Education | University of California, Los Angeles, California State University, Long Beach |
Occupation(s) | Textile and fiber artist, installation artist, academic administrator, educator |
Website | gknodel |
Gerhardt Gunther Knodel (born 1940), [1] is an American contemporary textile artist, academic administrator, and educator. [2] He was the head of the fiber arts department at Cranbrook Academy of Art from 1970 to 1997, and also served as the school director from 1997 to 2007. [3] In 2016, he was named a fellow of the American Craft Council (ACC). [4]
Knodel was born in 1940, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, born into family of German heritage. [5] [6] His family moved when he was a child and he was raised in Los Angeles, California. [6]
Knodel studied art at Los Angeles City College (LACC), the University of California, Los Angeles (B.A. degree, 1961), and the California State University, Long Beach (M.A. degree, 1970). [5] [6] [7] While attending LACC, Knodel studied under Mary Jane Leland (1923–2022) in the Bauhaus school style. [3]
After graduation, Knodel worked for six years as a high school teacher in Los Angeles. [2] He took a job at Cranbrook Academy of Art, initially as an artist in residence in the fiber department. [2] Knodel worked at Cranbrook Academy of Art from 1970 until 2007, and he held two roles; head of the fiber arts department from 1970 to 1997, and the school director from 1997 to 2007. [3] [5] Notable students of his include Nick Cave, and Katarina Weslien. [2]
His textile work has been used in the creation of installations, as wallpaper, in theater, and for architectural commissions. [8] His series, Recovery Games (2005–2014) was artwork focused on gaming-based interactions paired with visual work as a method of understanding different strategies. [9]
Knodel's work can be found in museum collections, including at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, [10] Rhode Island School of Design Museum, [11] and Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA). [12]