PROJECTION 005: ROSALIE KNOX
2/2/22, Dearly Beloved
FEBRUARY 2 - MARCH 12, 2022
CHART is pleased to present our fifth PROJECTION exhibition, 2/2/22: Dearly Beloved, a two-venue presentation with Melanie Flood Projects in Portland, OR, of new abstract paintings by Rosalie Knox. The exhibition at CHART will be on view from February 2nd from 5–8pm to Saturday, March 12th, 2022.
Humble, 2022
acrylic, polyurethane, enamel and dye on linen
40 x 40 in (101.6 x 101.6 cm)
acrylic, polyurethane, enamel and dye on linen
40 x 40 in (101.6 x 101.6 cm)
Provocative, 2022
acrylic, polyurethane, enamel and dye on linen
40 x 40 in (101.6 x 101.6 cm)
acrylic, polyurethane, enamel and dye on linen
40 x 40 in (101.6 x 101.6 cm)
What do shimmering, lustrous, luminous, exotic nail polishes have in common with dreamily painted impressionistic canvases? The artist Rosalie Knox, who has found an enticing new medium for her work, familiar to anyone who has hoped to enhance the natural beauty of their nails. And to secretly — or not so secretly — signal a key part of their core personality, while at the same time indulging in a time-honored pampering ritual.
Although this is her debut show at the gallery, Knox is not at all new to the art world. During the 90s and through the first decade and a half of the new millennium, she participated in and chronicled the constant creative collision of the club and fashion worlds, starting her own high-end line of tie-dyed t-shirts; becoming the house photographer for the fashion designer Susan Cianciolo; and documenting the “X Girl” fashion line created by Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon.
All the while, she was amassing an extraordinary archive of photographs of New York’s multi-disciplinary cultural scene, some of which she showed at various galleries, including several group shows at American Fine Arts, where she worked during the mid-90s. Knox’s photographs of this peak New York cultural period remain in continuous circulation, frequently appearing in well-known print publications and on social media platforms.
Knox wasn’t just an observer: she was also actively involved in a number of performance art groups, including the glam-punk band, The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black; she even played a nun in Pinochet Porn, the epic underground Super-8 film by the late feminist artist Ellen Cantor.
Knox’s wide-ranging cultural immersions have culminated in her most recent practice, painting, which she began in 2017. Her canvases contain clear traces of two of her earlier endeavors: fashion and her long-time passion for nail polish, which she has combined to create an original body of work.
Although this is her debut show at the gallery, Knox is not at all new to the art world. During the 90s and through the first decade and a half of the new millennium, she participated in and chronicled the constant creative collision of the club and fashion worlds, starting her own high-end line of tie-dyed t-shirts; becoming the house photographer for the fashion designer Susan Cianciolo; and documenting the “X Girl” fashion line created by Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon.
All the while, she was amassing an extraordinary archive of photographs of New York’s multi-disciplinary cultural scene, some of which she showed at various galleries, including several group shows at American Fine Arts, where she worked during the mid-90s. Knox’s photographs of this peak New York cultural period remain in continuous circulation, frequently appearing in well-known print publications and on social media platforms.
Knox wasn’t just an observer: she was also actively involved in a number of performance art groups, including the glam-punk band, The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black; she even played a nun in Pinochet Porn, the epic underground Super-8 film by the late feminist artist Ellen Cantor.
Knox’s wide-ranging cultural immersions have culminated in her most recent practice, painting, which she began in 2017. Her canvases contain clear traces of two of her earlier endeavors: fashion and her long-time passion for nail polish, which she has combined to create an original body of work.
Dianthus, 2020
acrylic, polyurethane, enamel and dye on linen
21 x 17 1/4 inches (53.3 x 43.8 cm)
acrylic, polyurethane, enamel and dye on linen
21 x 17 1/4 inches (53.3 x 43.8 cm)
Knox first introduced her extensive personal collection of nail polish into her art in the mid-1990s, when she devised a “portable nail salon,” consisting of just a table and a few chairs that she set up at the back of American Fine Arts, where she worked at the time. This was later performed at the legendary Gramercy Art Fair in 1996, courtesy of fellow artist Tom Sachs, who had seen it in the gallery. That manicure-performance eventually evolved into a regular Saturday afternoon event at Sweet 303, a salon in the Chelsea Hotel. And in 2012, it became a “black light nails experience,” in the basement of the Pyramid Club, a famous East Village haunt, on the last Friday of each month. With a nod to the Rankin/Bass anime file The Last Unicorn, based on Peter Beagle’s 1967 fantasy story, Knox and her collaborator, Jacquelyn Gallo, hosted a “Last Unicorn” party, decorated with a major unicorn motif. As a line-up of downtown music and theater acts performed, Knox painted club-goers’ nails with phosphorescent, iridescent, glittering, glowing hues, all gleaned from her enormous nail polish collection of 3,000 or more bottles.
Knox was hardly alone in her fascination with the gem-colored- liquid-filled miniature vials, which had engendered its own nail- polish subculture, eventually worthy of a 2014 write-up in the New York Times. As she herself described the allure to the Times, “It’s an easy thing to collect. It’s small. It’s a collection you can maintain. It doesn’t impose on the rest of your life. It’s affordable.” She acknowledged that her ultraviolet manicures were an “intimate” act. But, she said, it wasn’t about prettiness or status brands. “It’s just about the colors.”
The same could emphatically be said of the three jewel-like paintings currently on display at CHART. Knox has developed her own spin on nail polish as a painting medium, one that seamlessly incorporates her tie-dye expertise, her performance experience and her sophisticated visual eye. The 40 by 40-inch works are created on fine Belgian linen that Knox has dyed in delicate tints, stretching the linen right over the stretcher bars. This color field background (its pattern narrowly revealed on the stretcher bars) serves to dramatically enhance the vivid spectrum of nail- polish colors, layered with acrylic paint and polyurethane, all applied by Knox in admirably restrained drips and pours. As gallerist Clara Ha puts it, “Every aspect of her paintings are informed by her previous practices, and then interweaved.”
The resulting works are extravagantly lush—almost romantic--in their richly symphonic hues and tone, while at the same time evoking a serene, centered, dreamlike atmosphere, like a calm before a storm. As a visual bonus, each work instantly transforms into something strikingly different under ultraviolet light.
Knox was hardly alone in her fascination with the gem-colored- liquid-filled miniature vials, which had engendered its own nail- polish subculture, eventually worthy of a 2014 write-up in the New York Times. As she herself described the allure to the Times, “It’s an easy thing to collect. It’s small. It’s a collection you can maintain. It doesn’t impose on the rest of your life. It’s affordable.” She acknowledged that her ultraviolet manicures were an “intimate” act. But, she said, it wasn’t about prettiness or status brands. “It’s just about the colors.”
The same could emphatically be said of the three jewel-like paintings currently on display at CHART. Knox has developed her own spin on nail polish as a painting medium, one that seamlessly incorporates her tie-dye expertise, her performance experience and her sophisticated visual eye. The 40 by 40-inch works are created on fine Belgian linen that Knox has dyed in delicate tints, stretching the linen right over the stretcher bars. This color field background (its pattern narrowly revealed on the stretcher bars) serves to dramatically enhance the vivid spectrum of nail- polish colors, layered with acrylic paint and polyurethane, all applied by Knox in admirably restrained drips and pours. As gallerist Clara Ha puts it, “Every aspect of her paintings are informed by her previous practices, and then interweaved.”
The resulting works are extravagantly lush—almost romantic--in their richly symphonic hues and tone, while at the same time evoking a serene, centered, dreamlike atmosphere, like a calm before a storm. As a visual bonus, each work instantly transforms into something strikingly different under ultraviolet light.
Humble, the first work in Knox’s new series, all done in 2022, is perhaps the most subdued of the three paintings. The grey-blue- violet of the upper canvas is interrupted by a large daub of yellow above a sea of interspersed red and purple. The little chevron-shaped drips in a pearlescent white mix, common to all three works, is used the most sparingly here. When black-lit, this painting takes on a vibrant glow, its blue, yellow, purple and red becoming radiant. Knox likens it to imminent weather above a hilly landscape. The nail polishes prominent in the work include: Color Club, “Wild at Heart;” Alchemy Lacquers, “Dark Matter;” and Chanel’s celebrated polish, Vamp.
Provocative features a geyser-like central form painted in deep purple, against a yellow and aqua background. Close-up, the geyser resembles a dark copse of trees. The painting has a nocturnal feel in regular light; in black light it evokes the last light of day, leaving in its wake a brightly glimmering dusk. Knox considers its mood “Gothic,” and the triangular shape could suggest the shadow of a witch. The violet form elicits a sense of dormant violence. Nail polishes used in this piece are: Deborah Lippmann, “Fade to Black;” Poparazzi, “Glow in the Dark;” and Essie’s famous “Starry Starry Night.”
Provocative features a geyser-like central form painted in deep purple, against a yellow and aqua background. Close-up, the geyser resembles a dark copse of trees. The painting has a nocturnal feel in regular light; in black light it evokes the last light of day, leaving in its wake a brightly glimmering dusk. Knox considers its mood “Gothic,” and the triangular shape could suggest the shadow of a witch. The violet form elicits a sense of dormant violence. Nail polishes used in this piece are: Deborah Lippmann, “Fade to Black;” Poparazzi, “Glow in the Dark;” and Essie’s famous “Starry Starry Night.”
Charming, the last painting Knox did in this series, features a sunny, lemon-yellow cloud-like central splash. Drips of “Reckless Metallic White,” and Brucci “Disco Pearl,” resemble small seagulls, and beneath the vaporous cloud is a blossom of red pigment bordered by blue. While, like the other paintings, it is totally abstract, in natural light the painting looks like a landscape or sky-scape, particularly around sunrise or sunset. Black-lit, the bright, ebullient colors become much darker, purple-toned, even a little threatening, and the drips invading this twilight scene resemble a descent of insect-like aliens. The nail polish color effects in Charming were created using: Del Sol Color Change Polish, “Reckless;” Brucci, “Disco Pearl,” and HEMA, “Girl with the Pearl.” As kind of icing on the cake, Knox embellished some of the drips with “caviar nail pearls,” tiny spherical glass bubble-like beads.
Knox has created a subtle, suggestive painting series that transcends its everyday medium. She has taken one of the world’s most ubiquitous cosmetic products - available everywhere from the tiniest drugstore to the toniest department store - and morphed it into something distinctly her own.
2/2/22: Dearly Beloved at CHART is the first of a dual-venue exhibit. It will include a “portable nail salon” where gallery goers can get an auteur manicure on Wednesday afternoons.
This exhibition is in collaboration with Melanie Flood Projects in Portland, Oregon. Conversation with the Last Unicorn will run from February 18 through March 12. The exhibition will display additional paintings and will also include Knox’s nail salon, and a shop featuring work by several local artists.
Click here for installation images at Melanie Flood Projects.
Knox has created a subtle, suggestive painting series that transcends its everyday medium. She has taken one of the world’s most ubiquitous cosmetic products - available everywhere from the tiniest drugstore to the toniest department store - and morphed it into something distinctly her own.
2/2/22: Dearly Beloved at CHART is the first of a dual-venue exhibit. It will include a “portable nail salon” where gallery goers can get an auteur manicure on Wednesday afternoons.
This exhibition is in collaboration with Melanie Flood Projects in Portland, Oregon. Conversation with the Last Unicorn will run from February 18 through March 12. The exhibition will display additional paintings and will also include Knox’s nail salon, and a shop featuring work by several local artists.
Click here for installation images at Melanie Flood Projects.
Charming, 2022
acrylic, polyurethane, enamel and dye on linen
40 x 40 in (101.6 x 101.6 cm)
acrylic, polyurethane, enamel and dye on linen
40 x 40 in (101.6 x 101.6 cm)
BLACK LIGHT EXPERIENCE
Rosalie Knox hosting a recurring party in the East Village, where she turns on a black light and gives Day-Glo manicures.
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INSTALLATION VIEWS
Installation views at CHART. Slides 2-5 photographed in ultra violet light. Photos by Elisabeth Bernstein.
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Rosalie Knox is a multi-media artist who lives and works in New York’s East Village. In the early 1990s she studied art and design at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam before returning to New York where she received her BFA at The Cooper Union in 1995. For her exhibition at CHART, the artist will show a group of abstract paintings that have evolved from her earliest exhibitions where she constructed social events as art happenings. This will be Knox’s first solo exhibition in New York City.
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© 2023 CHART
ALL ART WORKS COPYRIGHT THE ARTIST
ALL ART WORKS COPYRIGHT THE ARTIST
PROJECTION is an initiative alongside our main gallery programming, highlighting diverse voices in intimate presentations. PROJECTION features artists in the naissance of their careers or those that have been overlooked, working across a variety of mediums and formats. All PROJECTION exhibitions will take place concurrently in two venues: our downstairs gallery space and online in our PROJECTION ROOM.