Rachel Kneebone

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Rachel Kneebone (born 1973) is an English artist who lives and works in London. [1]

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Life and work

Kneebone was born in Oxfordshire. She graduated in 1997 with a First Class BA (Hons) degree from the University of the West of England, Bristol and in 2004 with an MA in sculpture [2] from the Royal College of Art, London.

In 2005 she was nominated for the MaxMara Art Prize for Women with Anne Hardy, Anj Smith, Margaret Salmon and Donna Huddleston. [1] That year, she contributed work to a show, The Way We Work, at the Camden Arts Centre, London. [3]

In 2005, she was commissioned to do a wall sculpture [1] by Mario Testino for the Diana, Princess of Wales exhibition at Kensington Palace. [4]

In July – August 2006, Kneebone had her first solo exhibition in London at Madder Rose gallery, which included a number of sculptures such as Loves all-worshipped tomb, where all love's pilgrims come (2005). [5] All the show's works sold out on opening night. [4] Reviewer Katarina Horrox commented that Kneebone's "carefully crafted sculptures witness various organic forms merging ambiguously into human body-parts as they climb elegantly up walls. Suggestive yet sensitive, her creations harp back to Ovid's Metamorphoses, whilst their fixed immobility implies a transgression of time and motion." [5]

In 2007, The Evening Standard highlighted Kneebone as "one to watch" thanks to her "beautiful and sexy hand-moulded porcelain sculptures". [2] In September 2007, Kneebone's work was included in the opening group exhibition An Archaeology [6] at Project Space 176 in London's Chalk Farm area. [7]

In 2008, Kneebone began to be represented by Jay Jopling and the White Cube gallery in London. Her first solo show with White Cube, The Descent, was in February 2009. [8]

In 2008, Tracey Emin selected a work by Kneebone to include in her room at the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition. [9] Emin said: "Her work is exciting for me – porcelain figurines, vulnerable and with an eighteenth-century look. I like Georgian things – my house was built in 1729, and I like simplicity and straight lines." [9]

Kneebone is known for finely sculpted white porcelain works [10] of organic forms merging ambiguously into human body parts. [5] Her work has been described as depicting an "erotic state of flux" and "celebrating forms of transgression, beauty and seduction", [11] and said to be influenced by ancient Greek and Roman myths in Ovid's poem Metamorphoses [1] and the "seductive, mythological paintings" of 18th-century artist François Boucher. [12]

Kneebone's Raft of Medusa installation is an example of the white porcelain sculptures depicting a tumultuous confusion of limbs and shapes. The series of five porcelain sculptures were displayed in The Foundling Museum from 29 September 2017 to 7 January 2018. They expressed the Foundling Hospital's suppressed narrative of sexual desire, emotional damage and female strength, [13] creating a resonant component to the Museum's exhibition, Basic Instincts. [14]

In January 2009, Kneebone spoke to the Tate Etc. magazine about William Blake's work The Primaeval Giants Sunk in the Soil (1824–1827), from Illustrations to Dante's Divine Comedy , "Eighth Circle of Hell". [15]

A 2012 exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, Rachel Kneebone: Regarding Rodin, showcased eight of her original works next to fifteen from Auguste Rodin that Kneebone personally selected. The pairing brought to light themes of "sexuality, death, and sin." [16]

From 2017 through 2019 the Victoria and Albert Museum displayed Kneebone's sculpture 399 Days, a 5-metre-high porcelain tower. [17]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 O'Keeffe, Alice (23 October 2005). "The new art elite: young, gifted, female". The Observer . Retrieved 17 December 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Davis, Simon (23 May 2007). "In search of the next big thing". Evening Standard . Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2008.
  3. ↑ "Rachel Kneebone". Madder Rose Gallery. July 2006. Archived from the original on 8 October 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
  4. 1 2 Soames, Gemma (16 July 2006). "Open art". The Sunday Times . Retrieved 19 December 2008.
  5. 1 2 3 Horrox, Katarina (24 June 2006). "Rachel Kneebone At Madderrose, London". Saatchi Online. Archived from the original on 3 October 2010. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
  6. ↑ "An Archaeology". Projectspace176. Archived from the original on 22 October 2007. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
  7. ↑ Reyburn, Scott (Autumn 2007). "The artful shopper". Royal Academy Magazine. No. 96. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
  8. ↑ "Rachel Kneebone: The Descent". White Cube. December 2008. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
  9. 1 2 Cork, Richard (Summer 2008). "Tracey Emin RA on curating Gallery 8 of the Summer Exhibition". Royal Academy Magazine. No. 99. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
  10. ↑ Emin, Tracey (6 June 2008). "My Life In A Column". The Independent . Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
  11. ↑ "Rachel Kneebone". White Cube. November 2008. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
  12. ↑ "Pump House Gallery: Arrivals". Wandsworth London Borough Council. 6 October 2004. Archived from the original on 26 September 2006. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
  13. ↑ "Raft of the Medusa". Foundling Museum. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  14. ↑ "Basic Instincts". Foundling Museum. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  15. ↑ "Microtate". Tate Etc. No. 15. Spring 2009. Archived from the original on 29 January 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
  16. ↑ Gonzalez, Desiree (July–August 2012). "Rachel Kneebone: Regarding Rodin". The Brooklyn Rail .
  17. ↑ "About the Rachel Kneebone display". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  18. ↑ "Goss-Michael Foundation to introduce first 'Saturday Sketch Day' August 15". Pegasus News . 16 July 2009. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012.
  19. ↑ Nicholson, Louise (23 September 2008). "Art For Sharing". Apollo . Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2008.
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