Kris Knight
Kris Knight is a Canadian artist whose paintings puncture the membrane between dream and reality, historical and contemporary, light and dark. Within their apparent ambiguity, Knight’s sensitive character-based paintings and portraits of men are an evocative combination of romanticism and nostalgia, exploring notions of performance in both an everyday and theatrical dimension. His pastel and tonal oil paintings conjure a series of shifting moods, themes, and experiences that are connected by a wide range of positions regarding the private and public self. Some works are dark and melancholic; others are tinged with notes of humour and sensuality, sweetness, elegance and light.
Born in Windsor (ON), Kris Knight lives and works in Toronto. He received his Associate degree from the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCADU) in 2003 His work has been shown internationally over the past decade including solo, group exhibition and art fair features in Toronto, New York, Miami, Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Los Angeles. He has been featured in numerous publications such as Interview Magazine, Vogue, Public Art, Harper’s Bazaar, The Globe and Mail, WWD, The Miami New Times and L’Officiel Hommes. His work is included in numerous public and private collections including the Royal Bank of Canada, The Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, The Oppenheimer Collection, The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, 21C Museum of Contemporary Art, The Agnes Etherington Art Centre of Queen’s University, and corporate collections like Gucci, with whom the artist collaborated with in 2014/15 on numerous projects including a dark and mystical reimagining of the house’s iconic floral pattern dubbed “Flora Knight”.
Recent Exhibitions
A Symphony of Untold Depths - Group show
From July 15 to September 2nd, 2023
Kris Knight - Auscultate
From October 21 to November 21, 2020
Selected Artworks
+ CV
EDUCATION
2003 - OCAD, Major in Drawing and Painting, Minor in Curating and Criticism (Honours), Ontario College of Art and Design, Toronto (ON)
1999 - OSSA & OAC Diplomas (Honours), Ridgetown District High School, Ridgetown (ON)
RESIDENCIES
2017 - Maison d’art Bernard-Anthonioz (MABA), Nogent-sur-Marne, Paris, France
COLLECTIONS
Royal Bank of Canada
The Walton Family Collection/ Crystal Bridges Museum
Gucci S.p.A
The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art
The Oppenheimer Collection
21c Museum of Contemporary Art
The Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection
Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University
The Art Gallery of Woodstock
GRANTS AND DISTINCTION
2019
- Canada Council for The Arts - Artist Grant
2018
- Ontario Arts Council - Mid Career Artist Grant
2014
- Ontario Arts Council - Mid Career Artist Grant
- Toronto Arts Council - Mid Career Artist Grant
2011
- Ontario Arts Council - Emerging Artist Grant
- Toronto Arts Council - Emerging Artist Grant
2008
- Ontario Arts Council - Emerging Artist Grant
2006
- Ontario Arts Council - Emerging Artist Grant
- Toronto Arts Council Emerging Artist Grant
2003
- Graduate Award: OCAD President’s Medallion for Drawing & Painting
- Nora E. Vaughan Award, OCAD, Toronto, Canada
- David L. Stevenson Scholarship, OCAD, Toronto, Canada
+ Solo Exhibitions
2020
- Auscultate, Galerie Nicolas Robert, Montréal (QC)
2019
- A Little Time Out, Galerie Alain Gutharc, Paris, France
2016
- Throwing Shadows, Galerie Alain Gutharc, Paris, France
2015
- Never-Never, Mulherin, Toronto (ON)
2014
- Smell The Magic, Spinello Projects, Miami, FL, USA
2013
- Secrets Are The Things We Grow, Mulherin+Pollard, New York City, NY, USA
2011
- The Lost and Found, Rize Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Tragic Kingdom, Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects, Toronto (ON)
2010
- A Deadly Nightshade, Spinello Gallery, Miami, FL, USA
2009
- Farewell Log Cabin, Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects, Toronto (ON)
2008
- So Long Scarecrow, Spinello Gallery, Miami, FL, USA
2007
- How We Quit The Forest, Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects,Toronto (ON)
+ Group Exhibitions
2019
- Male, Galerie Thomas Fuchs, Stuttgart, Germany
- A Portrait Show, VIVIANART, Calgary (AB)
- As I Like, Galerie Alain Gutharc, Paris, France
2018
- Quoetus Floreus, Galerie Nicolas Robert, Montreal (QC)
- Don’t Forget It, Galerie Alain Gutharc, Paris, France
- Garden of Skin, Angus Hughes Gallery, London, UK
2017
- O! Watt Up, Foundation National des Arts et Plastiques/MABA, Paris, France
- PINK, curated by Luis Venegas, Colette, Paris, France
2016
- Sea, Sex and Sun, Galerie Alain Gutharc, Paris, France
- Angel Dust, The Drake, Toronto (ON)
- Homecoming, Thames Art Gallery, Chatham (ON)
2015
- Full Moon, Spinello Projects, Miami, USA
- The Language of Flowers, Paul Petro Contemporary Art, Toronto (ON)
2014
- Lumières : Carte Blanche à Christian Lacroix, curated by Christain Lacroix, Musée Cognacq-Jay, Paris, France
- Guest Star, Mulherin + Pollard, New York City, NY, USA
- Remember Who I am, Galerie Alain Gutharc, Paris, France
- SHAPESHIFTING : Contemporary Masculinities, College of Wooster Art Museum, Wooster, OH, USA
2013
- 10th Anniversary Show, Gallery Poulsen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Secrets, Galerie Thomas Fuchs, Stuttgart, Germany CART Apartment, New York, NY, USA
2012
- 13, Mulherin + Pollard, New York City, NY, USA
- Teen Dream, Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects, Toronto (ON)
2011
- Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Mulherin Pollard, New York City, NY, USA
2010
- The Reflexive Self, Mike Weiss Gallery, New York City, NY, USA
- The Road Less Travelled, KMLA, Los Angeles, USA
2009
- National Portrait Competition, The Kingston Prize, (National Touring Exhibition), Canada
- New/Now, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS, USA
2008
- Characteristics, Galerie Push, Montreal (QC)
- Sexy Time, Morgan Lehman Gallery, New York City, NY, USA
- The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, 31Grand, New York City, NY, USA
- The Effect of Your Body, MCV/NYC, Brooklyn, USA
- CIRCA Puerto Rico, with Katharine Mulherin, San Juan, Puerto Rico
+ Art fairs
2019
- Papier 19, with Galerie Nicolas Robert, Montréal (QC)
2018
- Drawing now with Galerie Alain Gutharc, Paris, France
- Art Paris International Art Fair with Galerie Alain Gutharc, Paris, France
2017
- Spring Break Art Fair with Mulherin NY, New York City, NY, USA
- Art Toronto, Solo Project with Mulherin NY, Toronto (ON)
2016
- YIA Art Fair with Galerie Alain Gutharc, Brussels, Belgium
2014
- FIAC with Galerie Alain Gutharc, Paris, France
2013
- Blue Gaze, Volta NY with Mulherin, New York City, NY, USA
2012
- The Armory Show, with Katharine Mulherin, New York City, NY, USA
2010
- Zona Maco, Mexico Arte Contemporaneo, with Spinello Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico
2008
- Pulse, Miami with Spinello Gallery, Miami, FL, USA
- Scope Basel with Katharine Mulherin, Basel, Switzerland
+ Press and Publications
2018
- BENHAIM, Mikel (2018). “Kris Knight: A Soft Touch”, King Kong Magazine.
2017
- NAFZIGER, Christina (2017). “Kris Knight”, Art Maze Magazine, [Online],https://bit.ly/3kGEcrR
- SANDALS, Leah (2017). “Kris Knight’s New Paintings Offer a Softer Masculinity”, Canadian art, [Online], published on October 26, https://bit.ly/2PQKK8Z
2016
- KENIG, Ariel (2016). “Kris Knight”, BOYCOTT Magazine.
- CHAPIN, Sasha (2016). “Pretty Boys, The Walrus, [Online], published on April 19, https://bit.ly/2DGwg9r
- UYSALEFE, Günes (2016). “Pastel Erotika”, L’Officiel Hommes Türkiye.
- BODIN, Claudia (2016). “Jäger und Gejagte”, German Art, published in January
2015
- L’Officiel Hommes NL Milde Rebelle, Door Kaira van Wijk, No. 9, lente/zomer
- Harper’s Bazaar Art, Kris Knight, (cover)
- GIANNINI, Frida (2014). “Kris Knight”, Interview Magazine, [Online], published on December 17, https://bit.ly/3kMjCqa
2014
- DURAN, Jose D. (2014). “The Magic of Kris Knight”, Miami New Times, [Online], published on Decembre 1st, https://bit.ly/3hzTSeC
- HABIB, Samra (2014). “Kris Knight: The Canadian painter who inspired Gucci’s fall men’s collection”, The Globe and Mail, [Online], published on October 3rd, https://tgam.ca/31t6L4s
2013
- BRUCE, Parker (2013). “Meet Kris Knight”, GAYLETTER, [Online], https://bit.ly/2G1bRN1
- GOMEZ, Juan-Dario (2013). “Kris Knight”, C★NDY, Issue 7, Winter 2013/14
- GOLONKA, Dennis (2013). Un-titled Project, Disappear (Cover), Issue 6.
2012
- SIMULA, Pier Mario (2012). Kris Knight - Blue Eyes, Fashion For Men, (Cover), Issue 02, Winter 2012/Spring 2013
- Public Art Magazine, Kris Knight (Cover), Issue #66, March.
2010
- PAJOT, Sean (2010). “Refugees From Reality”, Miami New Times, [Online], published on July 8, https://bit.ly/3aYGkXg