My paintings suggest aspects of nature, but at heart they come from my landscape within - in other words, I paint what I feel and how I see the world.
Beginning with no predetermined outcome, I allow my mood and memories to lead. Working intuitively helps me stay in that mindset, and takes me to that moment of joy when I first felt the wonder of playing with liquid color.
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I'm intrigued by color relationships; how colors change depending upon what is adjacent to them. What if the size or shape changes, if the color spreads, if it's thick, thin, opaque or translucent? Simple marks at the outset give way to many layers of overlapping colors that shift and dissolve, creating a movement of floating, amorphous shapes.
Mainly working with quick-drying acrylics, anything goes: pastels, graphite, or other media often become mixed in with the paint. The stroke of a brush loaded with pigment - how does it relate to parameters of the surface? Surprises occur. Each work is a set of discoveries and an exploration unto itself. ​
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For me, painting is a buffer. It allows me to create by reaching within, and provides a way to experience the beauty and wonder present in the world even in these challenging times. It is a process offering learning, growth and continual new beginnings. It is a journey I love.
BIO
Joan Knauer's passion for texture, color and design has inspired a lifelong exploration of artistic creation. She began with drawing as a young teen, but fascinated by the tactile properties of various materials, she soon became smitten with ceramics. She later worked in collage, recycling and integrating scraps of found objects into her compositions. It was when she realized the fluidity and immediacy of paint that she fell in love with the medium. This sparked her current work, to which she has devoted herself since: abstract acrylic painting, more specifically paint layered with multiple mixed media.
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Born in Brooklyn and raised on suburban Long Island, having worked as an educator for many years, Joan has lived in New Jersey since 1983. She earned a BA from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Art and Education from Columbia University Teachers College, with a concentration in ceramics. Recent exhibitions include shows with the National Association of Women Artists, of which she is a Signature member, The Art of Healing at Englewood Hospital, Studio Montclair, Hackensack Center for the Performing Arts, the Riverside Gallery, Gaelen Center for the Arts, and others. Her work has received recognition and is found in private collections.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS AND HAPPENINGS
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2023
Gallery Episode, Eureka!, Leonia, NJ 11/18-12/9
Fair Lawn Public Library, Autumn Renewal, Fair Lawn, NJ 9/17-10/27
Englewood Hospital, Art of Healing Juried Exhibition, Englewood, NJ 9/15/23-8/19/24
Hackensack Performing Arts Center, (Untitled), Hackensack, NJ 7/8-8/31
Studio Montclair State of the Art, Leach Gallery, 6/23-8/18
National Association of Women Artists 134rd Annual Exhibition, One Art Space, NYC 6/16-7/1
Bełskie Museum, Renewal, Closter, NJ 6/4-6/25
Hackensack Performing Arts Center, Spring, Hackensack, NJ 4/4 - 5/30
Mikhail Zakin Gallery, 20 Years of Collage, Demarest, NJ 2/7 - 3/14
Bełskie Museum, Hope Out of Darkness Juried Show, Closter, NJ 2/5 - 2/26
2022
National Association of Women Artists New Members Exhibition, Trask Gallery at the National Arts Club, NYC 11/7-11/18 and online
National Association of Women Artists 133rd Annual Exhibition, One Art Space, NYC, 10/14-10/29 and online
Exit 70a and Friends Outdoor Art Show Methodist Church Lawn, Leonia, NJ 10/9
Hackensack Performing Arts Center, Joy, Hackensack, NJ 10/3 - 11/14
Riverside Gallery, Liminal Showcase 2 Juried Show, Hackensack, NJ 10/1-18
Riverside Gallery, Favorites, Hackensack, NJ 9/13-29
Englewood Hospital, Art of Healing Juried Exhibition, Englewood, NJ 9/3/22-8/18/23
Gaelen Center for the Arts, Juried Art Show, JCC MetroWest, W. Orange, NJ 6/12-7/31
Exit 70a and Friends Outdoor Art Show, Methodist Church Lawn, Leonia, NJ 4/30
Pomona Cultural Center, Winter Art Exhibit, Pomona, NY 2/6-3/20
2021
Art and La Cuisine, Madeleine’s Petit Paris, Northvale, NJ
Englewood Hospital, Art of Healing Juried Exhibition, Englewood, NJ
Studio Montclair, Privilege, Power and Everyday Life Juried Exhibition, Montclair, NJ
2020
Englewood Hospital, Art of Healing Juried Exhibition, Englewood, NJ
2019
High Mountain Presbyterian Church, Precious Objects, Franklin Lakes, NJ
Studio Montclair, Everyday Objects Juried Exhibition, Montclair, NJ
State of NJ Senior Juried Exhibition, Honorable Mention Non Professional Acrylic, East Windsor, NJ
Bergen County Senior Juried Exhibition, First Place Non Professional Acrylic, Art Center of NNJ, New Milford, NJ
Hackensack Performing Arts Center, Save Our Mother Earth, Hackensack, NJ
Englewood Hospital, Art of Healing Juried Exhibition, Englewood, NJ
Monmouth Museum, Member Miniatures, Lincroft, NJ
2018
Union Arts Center, Creativity Explored, Sparkhill, NY
Englewood Hospital, Art of Healing Juried Exhibition, Englewood, NJ
State of NJ Senior Juried Exhibition, Non Professional Acrylic, East Windsor, NJ
Bergen County Senior Juried Exhibition, First Place Non Professional Acrylic, Art Center of NNJ, New Milford, NJ
Palisades Library, Moving Toward Abstraction, Palisades, NY
Rockland Center for the Arts, 2018-19 Catalog Cover Artist, West Nyack, NY
2017
Art Center of NNJ, Focus NJ Juried Show, New Milford, NJ
Temple Emeth Members Showcase, Teaneck, NJ
Art Center of NNJ, Celebrating Bergen County’s Diversity Juried Exhibition, First Place Acrylic, New Milford, NJ
2016
Unitarian Society Cottage Gallery, Collage Collective, Ridgewood, NJ
Studio Montclair, State of the Art, Montclair, NJ
2015
Art Center of NNJ, Celebrating Bergen County’s Diversity Juried Exhibition, New Milford NJ
Photo: Raylie Dunkel
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