Stefan
Knauf
artworks
About
Stefan Knauf was born in Munich, (DE), in 1990. Lives and works in Berlin, (DE).
Knauf explores the ideological and colonial structures that continuously shape the world through design and space-making practices, particularly with regard to the landscape and the natural world. His diverse practice probes the history of botany, migration, trade, science, and architecture to uncover concrete paradoxes in our misperception of nature as something inherently stable, wild, or uncultured. Knauf’s recent research has led him to countless ecosystem restoration initiatives around the world, where governments and companies are effectively attempting to “re-create” previously destroyed or eroded natural environments.
With these various symbolic and formal references, Knauf outlines a political history of human geoengineering and points to how our understanding of nature, technology, and their interrelation continue to blur the lines between the natural and artificial.
Education
Made Labs Formafantasma & Fernando Laposse, Academy of Fine Arts, Sicily, (IT)
Master of Arts, Speculative Design, Universität der Künste, Berlin, (DE)
Master of Arts, Fine Arts, Universität der Künste, Berlin, (DE)
Bachelor of Arts, Columbia University, New York, (US)
Publications and Bibliography
2019 Analogies between the built environment and contemporary art, Princeton University
2018 Paradise is now! Palm Tree in Art, catalog for the exhibition, Salon Dahlmann Berlin
2018 Ich bin ein Riss, ich will durch Wände gehen, catalog for the exhibition, Salon Dahlmann Berlin
Awards
2017 Hanke-Förster-Preis, award for sculpture of the Hanke Förster foundation, Berlin, (DE)
2017 Form follows future, scholarship of Fraunhofer Institut, ISE Freiburg, (DE)
2012 Helmut-Thoma-Preis, award for sculpture of the Helmut Thoma foundation, Berlin, (DE)
2009 Crossmedia Award, award for shortfilms, LBS, Munich, (DE)
2009 Film grant for shortfilm, Würzburg, (DE)
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
2023 Diorama, Eyes Only Gallery feat. Galerie Robert Grunenberg, Munich, (DE)
2022 Birds don’t cry, Robert Grunenberg, Berlin, (DE)
2019 Oscar Columno’, Robert Grunenberg, Berlin, (DE)
Public Collections
Sammlung Peters-Messer Berlin/Viersen (DE)
Miettinen Collection, Berlin (DE)
Group Exhibitions
2023 IMAGINE — 10 Unrealized Projects, Robert Grunenberg, (DE)
2021 ATTACCATUTTO, fructa space, Munich, (DE)
2020 Sincere Intentions, Robert Grunenberg, (DE)
2018 Ich bin ein Riss, ich will durch Wände gehen, Salon Dahlmann, Berlin, (DE)
2018 Losing my Virginity, Robert Grunenberg, Berlin, (DE)
2018 Paradise is now, Salon Dahlmann & Robert Grunenberg, Berlin, (DE)
2018 Salone del Mobile, Chezplinio, Milan, (IT)
2017 Wenn der Pfau weint, group exhibition, Galerie 7 Türen, Hamburg, (DE)
2016 Hot, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, (DE)
2015 Höhenrausch Festival, Linz, (AU)
2015 Aqua con crete, SEZ, Klasse Manfred Pernice, Berlin, (DE)
2013 Votre Faust, Opera, Henri Pousseur, Stage Design, Directed by Aliénor Dauchez, Kammeropera Berlin, (DE)
2013 Radialsystem, Theater Basel, Stadttheater, (DE & CH)
2013 Shorting Art, lecture performance, former west symposium Haus der Kulturen der Welt, HKW, Berlin; Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Kopenhagen, (DE & DK)
past exhibitions
press
- 2023 Highlights Art Düsseldorf, thedorf.de
- 2023 8 Highlights der Kunstmesse Art Düsseldorf, gallerytalk.de
- 2020 On Pillar and Plants, Numero Berlin Nr. 12 Spring / Summer 21
- 2019 Stefan Knauf in Conversation with Margit J. Mayer, Robert Grunenberg
- 2018 About nonsense, Studio Sacrale, Indie Mag magazine
- 2018 On Beauty, Numero Homme magazine
- 2017 Designreport, Form follows future, Fraunhofer
- 2013 Hahn im Kork, Heft 49, Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin
- 2013 Does Berlin Need A New Art School?, Frieze Art Magazine