Autumn Knight (born 1980) is an American interdisciplinary artist working with performance, installation, and text from Houston, Texas who lives and works in New York City.[1]

Autumn Knight
Born1980
Houston, Texas, USA
Education
Websiteautumnjoiknight.com

Early life and education

edit

Knight attended the High School for Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, TX . She went on to achieve an M.A. in Drama Therapy, from New York University and a B.A. in Theatre Arts/Speech Communications from Dillard University.[2] Knight holds certificates in Arts Management & Marketing from Birkbeck College in London, U.K. and in Speech & Drama from Central School of London.[2]

Career

edit

Artistic practice

edit

Knight is recognized for her performance pieces, which are influenced by her background training in therapy.[3] Often, the works play off the social dynamics of her audiences, amplifying the race, gender, and power relationships in the room. Her work has been described as having an "absurd and comedic effect."[1]

In Sanity TV at Portland Institute for Contemporary Art’s Time-Based Art Festival (TBA) in 2018, Knight performed the role of an "absurd host of a talk show," directing audience members to participate through prompts and interviews.[3]

Knight was one of the artists who contributed to Solange's 33-minute music video to her album When I Get Home (2019).[4][5] She is the winner of the 2021–22 Nancy B. Negley Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome.[6] Knight is also a recipient of a 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship in Film-Video.[7]

Performances and exhibitions

edit

Knight has been widely exhibited, including at institutions such as Marfa Contemporary (2018),[8] DiverseWorks Artspace (2018),[9] Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (2018),[10] University of Illinois - Krannert Art Museum (2017),[11] Art League Houston (2016),[12] She Works Flexible (2016),[13] The New Museum (2015),[14] Blaffer Art Museum (2014),[15] Skowhegan Space (2014),[16] CounterCutrent (2014) with Lisa E. Harris and M'Kina Tapscott,[17] Project Row Houses (2013),[18] and Crystal Bridges Museum.[19]

In 2019, Knight performed at Human Resources in Los Angeles,[20] and was selected to be included in the 2019 Whitney Biennial, curated by Rujeko Hockley and Jane Panetta.[21] As MF Problem with artist Robert Pruitt she is a performer in the 2019 CounterCurrent Festival.[22]

In January 2020, Knight was part of Artpace's exhibit titled Visibilities: Intrepid Women of Artpace.[23][24] Curated by Erin K. Murphy, Visibilities not only kicks off Artpace's 25th anniversary celebration, but also highlights past artists from their International Artist-in-Residency program, such as Knight who was a resident there in Spring of 2015.[25] Knight's 2017 video entitled Meesh was part of Visibilities.[23]

In July 2020, Knight created a two-hour performance series for The Kitchen in collaboration with artist Adebukola Bodunrin.[26] The performance was streamed live over Twitch due to COVID-19 restrictions. The three segments of the performance explored intersectionality how these dynamics affect artists, institutions, and the art industry in general.[27] In this performance, Knight is depicted being followed by multiple cameras, while the feed is interrupted with security camera footage from inside The Kitchen. She then proceeds to gradually tear down The Kitchen while also giving different speeches to the audience. Reviewer Madeline Seidel praised Knight's performance noting that her "...actions frame The Kitchen as a complex setting: the institutional space is simultaneously described as a 'cage' in which racial, gendered and classist power mechanisms are at play, yet it also provides a blank slate for her artistic exploration of these societal ills."[28]

Residencies

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Kroeber, Gavin (May 26, 2017). "Autumn Knight". Art in America.
  2. ^ a b c "Artists 2014". The Millay Colony for the Arts. Archived from the original on March 7, 2019. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Tuazon, Ana. "Autumn Knight's Sanity TV". Art Practical. Archived from the original on March 7, 2019. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  4. ^ "New Solange Video Features Rothko Chapel, Work by Jacolby Satterwhite, Robert Pruitt, More". ARTnews. March 1, 2019. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  5. ^ "Watch Solange's When I Get Home Film". www.vulture.com. March 2019. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  6. ^ Rome, American Academy in (April 23, 2021). "Announcing the 2021–22 Rome Prize Winners and Italian Fellows". American Academy in Rome. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  7. ^ "Autumn Knight". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  8. ^ "Marfa Contemporary :: Autumn Knight - Grand Opening/Grand Closing". www.marfacontemporary.org. Archived from the original on March 4, 2019. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  9. ^ "AUTUMN KNIGHT: M_ _ _ER". DiverseWorks. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  10. ^ "Workshop | fluid with Artist Autumn Knight". Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  11. ^ "Autumn Knight: In Rehearsal". Krannert Art Museum.
  12. ^ "C 2016 Sun Sess B". Art League Houston. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  13. ^ "Flex Space". She Works Flexible. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  14. ^ "Chelsea Knight: Knight + Knight Latencies, with Autumn Knight". www.newmuseum.org. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  15. ^ "Performance by Autumn Knight / Performance de Autumn Knight". Blaffer Art Museum. Archived from the original on March 7, 2019. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  16. ^ "Staging Sex, Staging Self #6: Autumn Knight & Chelsea Knight". Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture. April 22, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  17. ^ "Flower Man Bike Parade". CounterCurrent. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  18. ^ "Round 37". Project Row Houses. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  19. ^ "Autumn Knight | State of The Art". Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  20. ^ "Autumn Knight: Yes + No: A Cult". humanresourcesla.com. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  21. ^ Steinhauer, Jillian (February 25, 2019). "The Whitney Biennial: 75 Artists Are In, and One Dissenter Steps Out". The New York Times.
  22. ^ "MF Problem (Autumn Knight/Robert Pruitt)". CounterCurrent. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  23. ^ a b Martin, Deborah (January 10, 2020). "Artpace in San Antonio devoting 25th anniversary to works by women". ExpressNews.com. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
  24. ^ "Visibilities: Intrepid Women Of Artpace". artpace.org. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
  25. ^ "International Artist-In-Residence". artpace.org. Archived from the original on November 22, 2021. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
  26. ^ Cassell, Dessane Lopez (July 22, 2020). "Autumn Knight Responds to the "Gaslighting of the Current Moment" in New Performance Series". Hyperallergic. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  27. ^ Trouillot, Terence (December 9, 2020). "The Top Ten Shows in the US of 2020 | Frieze". Frieze. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  28. ^ Seidel, Madeline (August 27, 2020). "Autumn Knight Tears The Kitchen Apart". Frieze (214). Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  29. ^ "Autumn Knight". The Kitchen OnScreen.
  30. ^ "Autumn Knight". Pioneer Works.
  31. ^ "READ (Cont.) by Autumn Knight and John Pluecker". The Poetry Project. May 4, 2017.
  32. ^ a b "Dance Source Houston Announces 2015-16 Artists In Residence". The Dance DiSH. August 17, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  33. ^ "Autumn Knight (2014)". in-situ. December 9, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2019.[permanent dead link]
  34. ^ "Galveston Artist Residency: Events : Past Events". galvestonartistresidency.org. Archived from the original on September 20, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  35. ^ "Autumn Knight". www.artpace.org. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
edit