Daniel Knorr
Canvas Sculptures, O’K Flag, 2020
pigmented polyurethane, UV resistant
120 x 70 x 32 cm (47 1/4 x 27 1/2 x 12 5/8 in.)
The Canvas Sculptures were developed from the Depression Elevations series. The canvas is one of the secondary aspects of a work of art — it is the application of paint that reflects artistic skill. The new sculptures copy the structure of the canvas and use it as a painting surface. Finally, synthetic resin binds the painting and removes it from the canvas. The material makes it possible to form and fold the works freely in space.
Inspired by Modernist painting, the artist combined various aspects and genres from art history. In the 1960s, minimal art represented the serial division and industrialization of natural resources. In Europe, Nouveau Réalisme emerged as an attempt to create a new perception of reality and the environment in general. We live in an era of materialization and serial reproduction, in which art is a model for wallpaper, tablecloths, shower curtains, and other household decorations. The Canvas Sculptures are a reaction to the industrial aspect of the materialization of culture, forming a new level for the artistic practice of painting.
Daniel Knorr
Canvas Sculptures, Mountain High, 2020
pigmented polyurethane, UV resistant
130 x 120 x 22 cm (51 1/8 x 47 1/4 x 8 5/8 in.)
Daniel Knorr
Canvas Sculptures, Modern Waves, 2020
pigmented polyurethane, UV resistant
110 x 110 x 13 cm (43 5/16 x 43 5/16 x 5 1/8 in.)
Daniel Knorr
Canvas Sculptures, Popcornova, 2020
pigmented polyurethane, UV resistant
140 x 117 x 30 cm (55 1/8 x 46 1/16 x 11 3/4 in.)
Daniel Knorr
Canvas Sculptures, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon Added Dimension III, 2020
pigmented polyurethane, UV resistant
90 x 80 x 16 cm (35 7/16 x 31 1/2 x 6 5/16 in.)
Daniel Knorr
Canvas Sculptures (Blue Chateau), 2020
pigmented polyurethane, UV resistant
150 x 96 x 20 cm (59 x 37 3/4 x 7 7/8 in.)
Daniel Knorr
Canvas Sculptures, Red Lumberjack, 2020
pigmented polyurethane, UV resistant
185 x 135 x 20 cm (72 7/8 x 53 1/8 x 7 7/8 in.)
Knorr developed the series of works Depression Elevations Berlin Wall Nuggets in 2020, capturing the traces of the Berlin Wall and its surroundings. The artist took forms of small indentations along the streets and places where the Cold War building was located and at the same time marked by it, and cast them in his studio. Daniel Knorr, who frequently questions socio-political issues in his works, reacts to the history of the city, which was at the same time a symbol of decades of global conflict.
Daniel Knorr
Depression Elevations, Berlin Wall Nuggets No 45, 2020
pigmented polyurethane casting, UV resistant
20 x 29 cm (7 7/8 x 11 7/16 in.)
Daniel Knorr
Depression Elevations, Berlin Wall Nuggets No 42, 2020
pigmented polyurethane casting, UV resistant
29 x 20 cm (11 7/16 x 7 7/8 in.)
Daniel Knorr
Depression Elevations, Berlin Wall Nuggets No 46, 2020
pigmented polyurethane casting, UV resistant
29 x 20 cm (11 7/16 x 7 7/8 in.)
Depression Elevations is a series of color cast objects that can be considered painting or sculpture. They can also be considered as relics, reliefs or frescoes. They reflect the relationship that Daniel Knorr has with the past and present. He knows the provenance of each individual object. They come from damaged walls or holey streets, from a park or from a construction site. Daniel Knorr selects them, transforms them, casts them like sculptures and transforms them into colorful, handmade objects. He did not smooth out or repair damage or cracks, but simply copied them. The flat, semi-transparent or transparent polyurethane casts have smooth surfaces, but underneath there are rough marks, dents and depressions in the road surfaces. Daniel Knorr told me that it was not his aim to be radical or provocative. This series conveys a fundamental joy in beauty that comes from a damaged but real world.
Daniel Knorr
Depression Elevations, Berlin Wall Nuggets No 47, 2020
pigmented polyurethane casting, UV resistant
29 x 20 cm (11 7/16 x 7 7/8 in.)
Daniel Knorr
Depression Elevations, Berlin Wall Nuggets No 48, 2020
pigmented polyurethane casting, UV resistant
20 x 29 cm (7 7/8 x 11 7/16 in.)
Daniel Knorr
Depression Elevations, Berlin Wall Nuggets No 49, 2020
pigmented polyurethane casting, UV resistant
29 x 20 cm (11 7/16 x 7 7/8 in.)
Daniel Knorr
Depression Elevations, Berlin Wall Nuggets No 51, 2020
pigmented polyurethane casting, UV resistant
20 x 29 cm (7 7/8 x 11 7/16 in.)
Daniel Knorr
Depression Elevations, Berlin Wall Nuggets No 54, 2020
pigmented polyurethane casting, UV resistant
20 x 29 cm (7 7/8 x 11 7/16 in.)
Daniel Knorr
Depression Elevations, Berlin Wall Nuggets No 58, 2020
pigmented polyurethane casting, UV resistant
29 x 20 cm (11 7/16 x 7 7/8 in.)
Daniel Knorr
Depression Elevations, Berlin Wall Nuggets No 43, 2020
pigmented polyurethane casting, UV resistant
20 x 29 cm (7 7/8 x 11 7/16 in.)
Drippings reverse the way Depression Elevations works. Knorr did not start from a depression, but from the smooth surface of a glass plate. The colored liquids follow the movement of the glass plate and form a landscape of growing deposits, which are also reminiscent of biological structures such as cells or colored puffer fish. Behind the industrial surface, on the reverse side of the work, formations and structures emerge that represent a world that is still alien to us, one that is still growing together.
Daniel Knorr
Drippings, Oasis Spring, 2020
pigmented polyurethane, UV resistant
79 x 79 x 7 cm (31 1/8 x 31 1/8 x 2 3/4 in.)
Daniel Knorr
Drippings, Circus of Birds, 2020
pigmented polyurethane, UV resistant
155 x 99 x 14 cm (61 x 39 x 5 1/2 in.)
Daniel Knorr
Drippings, Blue Galaxy, 2020
pigmented polyurethane, UV resistant
93 x 86 x 4,5 cm (36 20/16 x 33 7/8 x 1 6/8 in.)
Daniel Knorr
Drippings, Gold, 2020
pigmented polyurethane, UV resistant
40 x 40 x 4 cm (15 3/4 x 15 3/4 x 1 9/16 in.)
