Gerhardt Gunther Knodel (born 1940), is an American contemporary

textile artist Textile arts are arts and crafts that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects. Textiles have been a fundamental part of human life since the beginning of civilization. The methods and materials use ...

, academic administrator, and educator. He was the head of the fiber arts department at

Cranbrook Academy of Art The Cranbrook Academy of Art, a graduate school for architecture, art, and design, was founded by George Gough Booth and Ellen Scripps Booth in 1932. It is the art school of the Cranbrook Educational Community. Located in Bloomfield Hills, Mi ...

from 1970 to 1997, and also served as the school director from 1997 to 2007. In 2016, he was named a fellow of the

American Craft Council The American Craft Council (ACC) is a national non-profit organization that champions craft based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1943 by Aileen Osborn Webb, the council hosts national craft shows and conferences, publishes a quarterly m ...

(ACC).

Early life and education

Knodel was born in 1940, in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, Wisconsin, born into family of German heritage. His family moved when he was a child and he was raised in Los Angeles, California. Knodel studied art at

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus of the U ...

(LACC), the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(B.A. degree, 1961), and the

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), also known in athletics as Long Beach State University (LBSU), is a public teaching-focused institution in Long Beach, California, United States. The 322-acre campus is the second largest in the ...

(M.A. degree, 1970). While attending LACC, Knodel studied under Mary Jane Leland (1923–2022) in the

Bauhaus school The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 2009), , pp. 64� ...

style.

Career

After graduation, Knodel worked for six years as a high school teacher in Los Angeles. He took a job at Cranbrook Academy of Art, initially as an artist in residence in the fiber department. Knodel worked at

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. Notable students of his include

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian musician, writer, and actor who fronts the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Known for his baritone voice, Cave's music is characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety ...

, and Katarina Weslien. His textile work has been used in the creation of installations, as wallpaper, in theater, and for architectural commissions. His series, ''Recovery Games'' (2005–2014) was artwork focused on gaming-based interactions paired with visual work as a method of understanding different strategies. Knodel's work can be found in museum collections, including at the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's lar ...

Rhode Island School of Design Museum The Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD Museum) is an art museum integrated with the Rhode Island School of Design, in Providence, Rhode Island, US. The museum was co-founded with the school in 1877. It is the 20th-largest art m ...

, and

Minneapolis Institute of Art The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the List of largest art museums, largest ar ...

(MIA).

Exhibitions

* 1984, ''Gerhardt Knodel'', solo exhibition, Elements Gallery, 90 Hudson Street, New York City, New York, U.S. * 1986, ''Craft Today: Poetry of the Physical'', group exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Crafts (now

Museum of Arts and Design The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), based in Manhattan, New York City, collects, displays, and interprets objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design. In its exhibitions and educational programs, the ...

), New York City, New York, U.S. * 1989, ''Fiber Explorations, New Work in Fiber Art'', group exhibition, Staller Center for the Arts at the State University in Stony Brook (now

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...

), Stony Brook, New York, U.S.

References

External links

Official website

Oral history interview with Gerhardt Knodel, 2004 August 3
from the

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washing ...

, Smithsonian Institution {{DEFAULTSORT:Knodel, Gerhardt 1940 births Living people 20th-century American male artists 21st-century American male artists Artists from Milwaukee Artists from Los Angeles California State University, Long Beach alumni Cranbrook Academy of Art faculty Los Angeles City College alumni Textile artists from California Textile artists from Michigan University of California, Los Angeles alumni American installation artists Fellows of the American Craft Council

Early life and education

Career

Exhibitions

References

Further reading

External links