sophie lourdes knight
London, painter
biography
Knight's work attempts to disrupt the hierarchical economy of value within the world of objects. By placing overlooked, everyday items alongside spectacular things of beauty she establishes them as on a level plain; both objects are prescribed as having the same inherent value. Through this process she breathes new life into objects. Inspired by the epic texts of magical realism that she reads, quotidian, banal objects are imbued with supernatural energy and spirit. They transcend their physical limitations and rise to become religious idols or spiritual totems. Knight's disrupted objects often inhabit spaces in barren interiors and exteriors marked by cool greys and soft whites. This allows each previously disdained and ignored object to take centre stage and fully occupy the viewer's mind, if only for a moment. Knight explains that her practice allows her to "strive for something outside myself yet grounded in myself." Her work attempts to locate the "dualities and contradictions" in everyday life "so that nothing is safe yet everything has its place."
exhibitions
Born in Mountain View, California, USA
MFA, Slade School of Fine Art, London, UK 2022
BFA, California College of the Arts, Oakland, CA 2014
Solo & Two-Person Exhibitions
2021 La Charogne, La Charade, Sophie Lourdes Knight & Julian Farade, Double Séjour, Paris, France
2018 Everything Counts, Zevitas Marcus, Los Angeles, CA
2018 Blue-42: Sophie Lourdes Knight & Ethan Caflisch, XXXI, New York City, NY
2018 Steady Plane, Steven Zevitas Gallery, Boston, MA
2017 Soft Shell, OGAARD, Oakland, CA
2016 Sophie Lourdes Knight & Chiyomi McKibbin, Domain, Oakland, CA
2015 Catcher Signals, Bunker Projects, Pittsburgh, PA
Group Exhibitions
2023 Our House, The Platform, Antwerp, Belgium
2023 Full to Bursting, Staffordshire St, London
2023 on the flip side was, Kollectiv Collective, London
2023 Portals, Arusha Gallery, London
2023 Bye Bye Cowboy, Arusha Gallery, London
2023 Our Vision is Clouded, Warbling Collective, London
2023 NOW, Huxley-Parlour Gallery, London
2023 In the Making, Liliya Gallery, London
2022 Buffer, Guts Gallery, London
2022 A Human Kind of Clothing, Liliya Gallery, London
2022 Friends with Benefits Vol. 2, Safe House 2, London
2022 We’re Gonna Need A Bigger Boat, Slash Arts, London
2022 Split Open, The Spilt Gallery, London
2022 We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat, Slash Arts, London
2022 Friends with Benefits Vol.2, Safehouse 1&2, London
2022 I'll Be Your Mirror, Paint Talk, Alice's Oyster Bar, London
2022 Dream, Baby, Dream, Paint Talk, Fitzrovia Gallery, London
2022 Why Don't You Dance?, ASC Gallery, London
2022 Snakes on a Picture Plane, UK Mexican Arts Society, London
2021 Cruel Intentions, Arusha Gallery, London, UK
2021 Luminous Bodies, Cyprus College of Art, Lemba, Cyprus
2021 To Be A Shell, Queensrollahouse, London, UK
2021 The First Swing of the Bat, Paint Talk, Gallery 46, London, UK
2020 Tides Always Turn, AucArt, London, UK
2020 With Love, Paint Talk Presents, UK
2020 HEXALOGY, PADA, Barreiro, Portugal
2020 EXH 04, Floorr Exhibitions, UK
2020 Made in Paint 2020, Golden Foundation, New Berlin, NY
2020 Savage 2020, The Crypt Gallery, St Pancras, London, UK
2020 Slade Runner, ASC Gallery, London, UK
2019 A High Hang, Eccelston Project Space, London, UK
2019 Home, MSMR, London, UK
2019 Deepest Night, Esqueleto, Los Angeles, CA
2019 Of Course, I Haven't Forgotten!, Warbling, 155A Artists Space, London, UK
2019 45 RPM, 45 YEARS OF SOUTHERN EXPOSURE, Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco, CA
2018 Wells Art Contemporary Awards, Bishop's Palace, Wells, Somerset, UK
2018 Connect & Collect, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA
2018 Got it for Cheap, pt.2 Gallery, Oakland, CA
2018 250th Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2018, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
2018 RELAY 2, Slidespace 123, Mills College, Oakland, CA (co-curator)
2018 Summer Survey, Traywick Contemporary, Berkeley, CA
2017 Monster Drawing Rally, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
2017 RELAY, CTRL + SHFT, Oakland, CA (co-curator)
2017 Small, Shy Projects, Paris, France
2016 Monster Drawing Rally, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
2016 Correspondencia (Correspondence), CTRL + SHFT, Oakland, CA (curated by Marcela Pardo Ariza, Nick Johnson & Ángel Rafael Vázquez-Concepción)
2016 Introductions, Trestle Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (juried by Jim Osman, curated by Katerina LanFranco)
2015 Crank, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA (juried by Lorelei Stewart & Gabriela Monroy)
2015 Botanica, The Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA (juried by Ken Harman & MacKenzie Stevens)
2015 Salon Des Refuses 2015, Happenstance Gallery, Hackey, London
2014 Art Lab Nightlife, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA
2014 Brew, The Post Office Gallery, Oakland, CA
2013 20 Jay St, Brooklyn, Guitar Shop Gallery, Oakland, CA
2013 Cinesthesia: An Encounter in Painting and Cinema, Carmen M. Christensen Production Stage, San Francisco, CA
2011 Honors, The Post Office Gallery, Oakland, CA
Residencies, Awards & Grants
2023-24 Good Eye Projects, London
2021 Grampus Heritage & Cyprus College of Art August Residency, Cyprus
2020 Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant Awardee, Montreal, Canada
2020 PADA Studios Residency, Barrerio, Lisbon, Portugal
2019 Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant Awardee, Montreal, Canada
2019 Golden Foundation Residency, New Berlin, NY
2018 Tosa Studio Award Nominee, Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco, CA
2013 AICAD New York Studio Residency Program, Brooklyn, NY
