Art For Relief

This original artwork on paper is typical for Manuela Karin Knaut as it accentuates a vivid colour pattern using very vibrant and cheerful tones. It creates a perfect balance between bold brush strokes and blank space to allow your mind to wander freely.

"I am a searcher of things, a playful collector. Unfortunately quite disorderly, I am constantly searching, in the middle of the action – I can always be found where things are happening, preferably in the place furthest removed from my comfort zone. Always travelling. If not in person then in thoughts and with my eyes. Constantly curious, sometimes brave, generally careful and always willing to look below the surface. Stopping when others keep walking. Questioning, touching, feeling, looking, smelling, capturing situations. Hesitating, gawping, marvelling.

I am interested in people and their stories: the security guard, the fruit seller, the photographer I recently met. The old neighbour who now lives in an old people’s home. The woman I met on the plane recently travelling to Accra on her own, the Israeli painter on her way to New York. The grandfather holding his grandson’s hand, that group of seemingly boisterous of youths, the small girl with a sad look at the street corner. I collect their stories. The newspaper seller at the traffic lights, I speak to him every day. What moves you? What makes you happy? What is the meaning of home for you, for me, at this or the opposite end of the world? What unites us, what separates us? Is there such a thing as real, true happiness? What is the meaning of loss, and – close to real life – what if death suddenly becomes a subject of discussion? I collect. Every day I collect new stories, memories, I collect pictures – in my head, with my camera. In many boxes, on many seemingly chaotic piles of paper I sort, connect, join new stories and faces with that which life has already presented to me. I walk through this one life of mine with open eyes – knowing that no-one else can see it, love it, live it like me." - Manuela Karin Knaut, 2021

Manuela Karin Knaut, born 1970, is an independent artist currently living in Braunschweig, Germany. Apart from her centrally located studio and print workshop in Braunschweig she also keeps a studio in Johannesburg.

Accolades

Manuela Karin Knaut acquired a Master of Arts in Fine Art at the University of the Witswatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. 

She has been a member of the Bund Bildender Künstler (German Association of Visual Artists) and the Association Internationale des Arts Plastiques, as well as The Visual Arts Network of South Africa (VANSA). Member of the International Womens Association, Photomuseum Braunschweig and GEDOK Niedersachsen.

Since 1990 various exhibitions nationally and internationally, amongst them in South Africa, Ghana, Switzerland, Danmark, UK, Austria, USA, Israel, Kirghistan. Her works are represented worldwide in public and private collections." 

www.mkk-kunst.de @knaut_contemporary