KAREN KNORR (AMERICAN/BRITISH 1954-) §
THE LOVESICK PRINCE, AAM KHAS, JUNHA MAHAL, DUNGARPUR PALACE (SMALL), FROM INDIA SONG - 2013/2018
£6,300
Contemporary & Post-War Art // Prints & Multiples
Auction: Contemporary & Post-War Art: 11 January 2023 | From 10:00
Description
Colour pigment print, A.P. 1, signed to artist's studio label verso
Dimensions
60cm x 76cm (24in x 30in)
Provenance
Provenance:
To be offered to support The House of St Barnabas (Registered Charity 207242)
Based in a Grade 1 listed townhouse in Soho, The House of St Barnabas has helped Londoners affected by homelessness since 1862. In 2013 the building became a members’ club with a difference; combining a not-for-profit creative and cultural space at No. 1 Greek Street with an Employment Academy for people affected by homelessness. Participants learn their craft in front of house, in the kitchen, the bar, or in the charity’s offices: since opening, 254 participants have graduated from the 12-week programme, many of which have secured lasting employment after graduation.
The House of St Barnabas’ cultural events, music, and the generosity of members are key to the success of the charity, but the building also showcases work by both established and emerging contemporary artists. The permanent collection of visual art includes the works of Banksy and Tracey Emin alongside a programme of temporary exhibitions supporting emerging artists.
The House have kindly been donated 11 works for sale, ranging from sculpture to paintings to support the charity's work. Most of the pieces have been donated by the artists themselves or by the galleries who represent them. Below we take a closer look at the works featuring in our January 2023 sale.
2023 is the year of the house’s 10th anniversary. With your support and dedication, the charity hopes to continue to break the cycle of homelessness.
Footnote
Note: Please note this work is sold with accompanying Ceritificate of Authenticity, issued by the artist.
Karen Knorr’s past work from the 1980’s onwards took as its theme the ideas of power that underlie cultural heritage, playfully challenging the underlying assumptions of fine art collections in academies and museums in Europe through photography and video. Since 2008 her work has taken a new turn and focused its gaze on the upper caste culture of the Rajput in India and its relationship to the "other" through the use of photography, video and performance. The photographic series considers men's space (mardana) and women's space (zanana) in Mughal and Rajput palace architecture, havelis and mausoleums through large format digital photography.
Karen Knorr celebrates the rich visual culture, the foundation myths and stories of northern India, focusing on Rajasthan and using sacred and secular sites to consider caste, femininity and its relationship to the animal world. Interiors are painstakingly photographed with a large format Sinar P3 analogue camera and scanned to very high resolution. Live animals are inserted into the architectural sites, fusing high resolution digital with analogue photography. Animals photographed in sanctuaries, zoos and cities inhabit palaces, mausoleums , temples and holy sites, interrogating Indian cultural heritage and rigid hierarchies. Cranes, zebus, langurs, tigers and elephants mutate from princely pets to avatars of past feminine historic characters, blurring boundaries between reality and illusion and reinventing the Panchatantra for the 21st century.
The subjects of Karen Knorr’s work are as geographically diverse as the artist’s own biography: Knorr was born in Germany and raised in Puerto Rico, before she ventured to Paris and settled in London. While she works in video and installation, she is perhaps best known for her photographs and digital collages. Principal themes in her work include the stratification of class, the distribution of privilege and wealth, value systems, the symbolic role of animal representations, and issues of power at the foundation of cultural heritage. Knorr prefers to look at the privileged rather than the disenfranchised; her subjects have included wealthy English classes and their patriarchal systems and frequented clubs. More recently, Knorr has produced a series of digitally modified interiors set in India, based on fables and injustices.