cynthia knapp
EDUCATION
York University, Toronto, Canada, BA with Honors in Fine Arts, 1974
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2011 Astolfi Gallery, Atlanta GA
2009 Rebekah Jacob Gallery, Charleston SC
2008 Ann Connelly Fine Art, Baton Rouge LA
2007 Perry Nicole Fine Art, Memphis TN
2005 Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta GA
2000 Robert Allen Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
1999 Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta GA
1997 Gallery C, Raleigh NC
1996 Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta GA
1996 Atchison Gallery, Birmingham, AL
1995 Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1994 Brenau University, Gainesville, GA
1993 Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1992 Albany Museum of Art, Albany, GA
1990 Dalton Gallery, Agnes Scott College, Atlanta, GA
Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1989 Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1986 Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Converse College, Spartanburg, SC
1985 Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
The Chattahoochee Valley Art Museum, LaGrange GA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2010 Onward, Besharat Gallery, Atlanta GA, Curated by Fay Gold
2008 Perry Nicole Fine Art, Memphis TN
2005 Georgia Painters: Energy, Movement and Spontaneity,
Museum of Arts and Sciences, Macon GA
2002 Wise Women, Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1999 20th Year Anniversary Exhibition, Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta GA
1997 Brenau University National, Gainesville, GA
1994 Works by Southern Women II, Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Brenau University National Invitational Art Exhibition, Gainesville, GA
1992 Works by Southern Women, Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Brenau University National, Gainesville, GA
1991 New Visions, Hanson Gallery., Knoxville, TN
1988 The Red Clay Survey, Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, AL
Quintet, Conway-Carroll Gallery, Washington, DC
Jeune Peinture, Grand Palais, Paris, France
The New American Art, The Mall Galleries, Institute for Contemporary Art,
London, England
1987 The South Shall Rise, Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1986 Visual Arts: The Southeast, One Securities Center, Atlanta, GA
1985 Georgia Artists by Invitation, Atlanta, GA
USA Portrait of the South, Palazzo Venezia, Rome, Italy
25 Artists Under 35, The Atchison Gallery, Birmingham, AL
Twenty-five Artists Under Thirty-Five, The Atchison Gallery, Birmingham, AL
COLLECTIONS
SAS Corporation, Cary NC
Atlanta Market Center, Atlanta, GA
Brenau University, Gainesville, GA
Burnham Service Corporation, Atlanta GA
Coca-Cola Company, Atlanta, GA
Columbus College, Columbus, GA
Delta Airlines, New York, NY
DeVrey Institute, Atlanta, GA
Digital Communications Associates, Inc., Atlanta, GA
Dutch International Holding Company, Atlanta, GA
Federal National Mortgage Association, Atlanta, GA
First Atlanta Corporation, Atlanta, GA
Givaudan Roure, Cincinnati, OH
Halpern Enterprises, Atlanta, GA
Healthdyne, Inc., Atlanta, GA
Heery and Heery Architects, Atlanta, GA
Hyatt Inc., Atlanta, GA
IBM, Inc., Cincinnati, OH
Kilpatrick and Cody, Atlanta, GA
King and Spalding, Atlanta, GA
Marriott, Inc., Atlanta, GA
National Bank of Georgia, Atlanta, GA
Powell, Goldstein, Frazer, Murphy, Atlanta, GA
RJR Nabisco, Inc., Atlanta, GA
Southern Bell, Atlanta, GA
Towers, Perrin, Inc., Atlanta, GA
Wildman, Harold, Allen, Dixon, Branch, Atlanta, GA
Wolf Block Schorr & Solis Cohen, Philadelphia, PA
SELECTED COMMISSIONS AND PUBLIC ART INSTALLATIONS
2008 The Francis & Craig Linder Center of Hope, Mason OH
2008 Jewish Hospital, Cincinnati OH
2008 Beavercreek Health Center, Beavercreek OH
2008 Springboro Surgical Center, Springboro OH
2005 Ridgewood Center, Raleigh NC
2004 Robert E Fulton Regional Library at Ocee, Fulton County, Atlanta GA
2003 St. Anne’s Women’s Center, Columbus OH
2002 Ridgewood Center, Raleigh NC
2001 Executive Jet, Cincinnati, OH
2001 University of Cincinnati, Kingsgate Conference Center, Cincinnati, OH
2001 Wake Medical Rehabilitation Center, Raleigh NC
2000 The Airport Air Program, Hartsfield International Airport, Atlanta GA
1997 Gallery C, Raleigh NC
1996 City of Atlanta, Hartsfield International Airport, Concourse E, Atlanta GA
1987 Delta Airlines, New York, NY
1986 Northside Hospital, Atlanta, GA
Portman and Associates, Atlanta, GA
Marriott, Inc., Atlanta, GA
1984 Hyatt, Inc., Atlanta, GA
AWARDS
1997 Achievement Award for Georgia Women in the Arts1992 "Brenau University National", Best in Show, Brenau University, Gainesville, GA (Leo Castelli, Director, Leo Castelli Gallery, New York NY, Juror
BIBLIOGRAPHY
“Georgia Painters: Energy, Movement and Spontaneity”, (catalog),
Museum of Arts and Sciences, Macon, GA 2005
“Art of Concourse E”, (catalog) City of Atlanta Department of Aviation,
Airport Art Program, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Atlanta GA 2003 (reproductions)
"Cynthia Knapp", (catalog), Fay Gold Gallery, Atlanta, GA, 1995, (reproductions)
"Cynthia Knapp", (catalog), Albany Museum of Art, Albany, GA, 1992, (reproductions)
Seligman, Beth, "Roll Over NYC", Peachtree Magazine Atlanta, GA, June, 1992
Bernstein, Roslyn, "Atlanta", Contemporanea, New York, NY, 1990
Martin, Anne Marie, "Red Clay", The Huntsville Times, Huntsville AL, September 30, 1988
"Red Clay Survey", Huntsville News, Huntsville, AL, September 29, 1988
Hiles, Bruce, "The Red Clay Survey", (catalog),
The Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, AL, 1988 (reproduction)
Reid, Sheila, "Nineteen American Artists", The Mall Galleries,
The Institute of Contemporary Art, London, England, 1988
"Jeune Peinture", (catalog), Musee Grand Palais, Paris, France, 1988, (reproduction)
VanDeventer, M.J., "Cynthia Knapp", (article),
Art Gallery International, Vol.8, Ed.3, March/April, 1987
Sharpe, Anita, "Success in Atlanta", The Atlanta Business Chronicle, March 24, 1986
Cullen, Frances E., "Visual Arts: The Southeast 1986" (catalog),
Georgia State University, Nexus Press, 1986, (reproduction)
Falcone, Susan M., "Contemporary Spaces with Traditional Roots",
Southern Homes, Fall, 1985, (reproductions)
Guerrieri, Geraldo, "USA Volti del Sud", Fratelli Palombi Editori, Roma, 1984, (Reproduction)
Hodgman, Kathryn, "Artistic Excitement Generated by Color, Shape, Space", (review), The Island Packet, Hilton Head, SC 1983
Burnett, W.C., "Intense Pastels Light Chroma Series", (review),
Atlanta Journal, December 3, 1980
Burnett, W.C., "Knapp at Gallery 515", (review),
Atlanta Journal, November 9, 1978
ARTISTS STATEMENTS
The imagery in my work is grounded in examining the abstract nature inherent in the relationship of various earthly, organic forms, often from unusual vantage points.
The paintings, works on paper, and sculpture in this exhibition, although completely abstract, often have an implied figural presence, whether through physical gestures or depictions of vessel-like forms. These are abstract musings on the relationships of organic structures where fields of color blur, overlap, and interact to create an amalgam of natural shapes. There is no intent to represent any natural form literally, rather to portray the essence of abstraction as apparent in the physical natural environment.
At times the work references topography, rock formations, repetitious natural patterning, or the human form. Some imagery is influenced by notions of depicting underwater scenes through the depth’s diffused lens, or the imagined perceptions as one might journey from the center of a plant, emerging through the blossom's repetitive petal pattern. Other pieces may suggest views from above, within, or through a cloud mass. I replicate these notions in the painting process. I inspect with paint from inside out. Paint and glaze is layered, added and removed until the forms develop on the painting surface. The nebulous structures float and meander through the canvas, enabling the colors, shapes and depths to gracefully leap and drift from the foreground to the background. Vivid colors are interspersed with neutral auras which emanate out of the depths of the painting.
As a natural extension of my fascination with layers, interrelated forms and the tension between positive and negative space, I have been working sculpturally for about fifteen years. Although a painter for most of my professional career, I often feel the desire to integrate my abstract organic imagery more fundamentally in architectural environments. The painted panels that make up my sculptures are gestural references, like dimensional brushstrokes, creating a positive and colorful interplay of forms that may complement or contrast with their environment, but ultimately create a dialogue with the space.
The media are varied and changeable, but my desire is consistent; to explore our perception of form and color, the relationship of one to the other and to their surroundings.