January 27, 2022
Ken Knight’s ‘FRONTIER’ Exhibition
Renowned Australian landscape painter Ken Knight has been said to follow the grand tradition of Streeton and Roberts. In the four decades he has been painting, every canvas is made plein air, right in the heart of wherever his mobile studio takes him. Rigging up “Troopy”, an army jeep bedecked with oils, his French easel and his trusted saw (for spontaneous re-sizing), Knight is an all-terrain painter accustomed to long days chasing the light while re-inventing the line.
In over 60 solo shows, his passion for the natural world has forged a contemporary style with a gutsy gestural signature. Broad strokes and energised composition revive the places we know well and the far reaches we are likely to never see. In this spirit, Knight’s most recent expedition was to Antarctica in February 2020. His goal to create 75 artworks in 7 days was a quest that changed him.
So captivating was this body of work, the Gosford Regional Gallery promptly secured the paintings for a public exhibition in 2021 attracting over 8,000 visitors, providing these works with an important provenance. The exhibition at Rochfort Gallery will be the first time these works are available for acquisition. It can be seen as a unique privilege to own a work that carries such significance.
This was Nirvana, Eden and a fragile Utopia rolled into one. It was a remote and meditative atmosphere so ancient that I felt insignificant. Setting up my easel on deck, I witnessed whales breaching, mountains rising from the ice and wild transitions of light. The mutable conditions had me painting like quick-silver as just as I set up one tonal palette, the sky would shift
Ken Knight
OPPORTUNITY TO VIEW & ACQUIRE AHEAD OF THE OFFICIAL OPENING
We are offering private tours from 2nd – 4th of February, prior to the anticipated opening weekend 5 & 6 February. Please call 0438 700 712 or email us to arrange a tour with one of our experienced art consultants.
‘FRONTIER’ EXHIBITION | 2 February – 19th March 2022