Gerhardt Knodel | |
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Born | Gerhardt Gunther Knodel 1940 (age 83–84) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
Education | University of California, Los Angeles, California State University, Long Beach |
Occupation(s) | Textile and fiber artist, installation artist, academic administrator, educator |
Website | gknodel |
Gerhardt Gunther Knodel (born 1940),[1] is an American contemporary textile artist, academic administrator, and educator.[2] He was the head of the fiber arts department at Cranbrook Academy of Art from 1970 to 1997, and also served as the school director from 1997 to 2007.[3] In 2016, he was named a fellow of the American Craft Council (ACC).[4]
Knodel was born in 1940, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, born into family of German heritage.[5][6] His family moved when he was a child and he was raised in Los Angeles, California.[6]
Knodel studied art at Los Angeles City College (LACC), the University of California, Los Angeles (B.A. degree, 1961), and the California State University, Long Beach (M.A. degree, 1970).[5][6][7] While attending LACC, Knodel studied under Mary Jane Leland (1923–2022) in the Bauhaus school style.[3]
After graduation, Knodel worked for six years as a high school teacher in Los Angeles.[2] He took a job at Cranbrook Academy of Art, initially as an artist in residence in the fiber department.[2] Knodel worked at Cranbrook Academy of Art from 1970 until 2007, and he held two roles; head of the fiber arts department from 1970 to 1997, and the school director from 1997 to 2007.[3][5] Notable students of his include Nick Cave, and Katarina Weslien.[2]
His textile work has been used in the creation of installations, as wallpaper, in theater, and for architectural commissions.[8] His series, Recovery Games (2005–2014) was artwork focused on gaming-based interactions paired with visual work as a method of understanding different strategies.[9]
Knodel's work can be found in museum collections, including at the Smithsonian American Art Museum,[10] Rhode Island School of Design Museum,[11] and Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA).[12]