Kevin Knopp -- Small Stuff
July thru September

The following is Kevin's excellent description of his show. --b.

The two constants of the work is its relatively small size and the fact that all of the work was done perceptually on site. By that I mean all the landscapes were done with a portable easel in an "impressionist" manner,and the still lifes are all based upon my observation of light, color, shape and shadow. All the landscapes are done in the Waupaca area, or where we vacationed in the St. Germaine area. For example, there are ten images from the Waupaca quarry behind the Soo Line depot, facing different directions, at differing times of day. Three I have entitled "from the Hobo Camp", an homage to the itinerant community that flourished there in the Great Depression, until they were "evicted'' by the good citizens of Waupaca.

As to color, it ranges from muted, earth tones. to a more abstract, autonomous "Fauvist" color scheme in some of the later work. Most of the work was created between 1998 and 2002, although a few go back to 1983. Which leads into the fact that I have been painting for about 32 years. What inspires me in these works is a poetry of place or object that I attempt to capture with my chosen medium, which in this exhibit includes oil, watercolour, sepia ink, charcoal and pastel, on both canvas, masonite panels and paper. The exhibit will consist of 55 pieces, although they may not all aesthetically fit on the walls at one time.

Currently, I am in transition between galleries, however I will be participating in a group show at the Peltz Gallery in Milwaukee this October,where I will exhibit work from my current series of landscapes from the Civil War sites of Manassas, Antietem, and figures and townscapes from Cumberland, MD. -- Kevin Knopp