On Wanting to Grow Horns: The Little Theatre of Tom Knechtel
North Galleries
July 12, 2003 – September 21, 2003
Known for technical virtuosity and for the range of his works on paper, Knechtel has explored the media of watercolor, gouache, pastel, charcoal, silverpoint, graphite, and ink, in each case keeping a pure relationship between method and mark-making. In 1985 he began to paint in oils, desiring to loosen up his precise and meticulous technique. The phantasmagoric works that resulted set forth intricate and meandering narratives, which delight the viewer with a labyrinth of private fantasy and stylized, colorful spectacle. Knechtel’s work is shameless in its exploration of the sensory pleasure of art. This exhibit is a mid-career survey spanning three decades of the Los Angeles artist’s work.