Robert Knight
Primary Medium: Photography
Other media: Film / Video, Installation
Robert Knight Photography
Email: rob (at) robertknight (dot) com
Website: http://www.robertknight.com
Artist Statement
Sleepless
Through photographs and video, Sleepless examines the contradiction between our expectations of sleep and its nocturnal actuality. Sleep connotes rest, peacefulness and stillness. It is expected to recharge us in preparation for our next day's activities. The reality is starkly different. Most Americans get less sleep than their bodies need (8-8.5 hours for adults), and approximately 50-70 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders . Our sleep is reduced and interrupted by the myriad nocturnal noises and activities of urban life, from the drone of our roads, highways and transportation systems to the barrage of light “noise” emitted from our street lamps, skyscrapers and neighbors.
My photographs and videos reveal a state of restlessness through the ethereal and translucent bodies which are captured during long-exposure nighttime shots. The resultant images are nighttime narratives – stories of our night's sleep which suggest a contemporary sleep crisis in our society.
Other media: Film / Video, Installation
Robert Knight Photography
Email: rob (at) robertknight (dot) com
Website: http://www.robertknight.com
Artist Statement
Sleepless
Through photographs and video, Sleepless examines the contradiction between our expectations of sleep and its nocturnal actuality. Sleep connotes rest, peacefulness and stillness. It is expected to recharge us in preparation for our next day's activities. The reality is starkly different. Most Americans get less sleep than their bodies need (8-8.5 hours for adults), and approximately 50-70 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders . Our sleep is reduced and interrupted by the myriad nocturnal noises and activities of urban life, from the drone of our roads, highways and transportation systems to the barrage of light “noise” emitted from our street lamps, skyscrapers and neighbors.
My photographs and videos reveal a state of restlessness through the ethereal and translucent bodies which are captured during long-exposure nighttime shots. The resultant images are nighttime narratives – stories of our night's sleep which suggest a contemporary sleep crisis in our society.
Selected Works
|  5 hours, 13 minutes, April 6, 2007 - 2007 - Archival Pigment Print - 20x24" - $900.00  5 hours, 15 minutes, March 15, 2009 - 2009 - Archival Pigment Print & Audio - 20x24" - $900.00 Still photograph and audio recording of ambient neighborhood sound outside building. |
Artist Bio
EDUCATION
Massachusetts College of Art – Boston, Massachusetts
Master of Fine Arts, Photography, 2006
Yale University – New Haven, Connecticut
Bachelor of Arts, Economics and Architecture, 1995
SOLO & TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2010 Sleepless, Gallery Kayafas, Boston, MA (Scheduled, May 2010)
2008 My Boat is so Small, Gallery Kayafas, Boston, MA
Things I've Seen, ArtSpace, New Haven, CT (Two-Person)
2007 Dwelling, The Boston Drawing Project @ Bernard Toale Gallery, Boston, MA
2006 MFA Thesis Show, Bakalar Gallery, Massachusetts College of Art (Catalog)
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2009 Home, Attleboro Arts Museum, Attleboro, MA
New England Photography Biennial 2009, The Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA
2008 Fidelity All-Media Exhibition, Providence Art Club, Providence, MA
Juried by Diana Gaston, Curator, Fidelity Investments
Exposure: The PRC Annual Juried Exhibition, Photographic Resource Center, Boston, MA
Juried by Lesley Martin, Aperture Foundation, NY, NY
2007 2007 New England Photography Biennial, The Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA
Juried by Arlette Kayafas, Gallery Kayafas & Karen Haas, MFA Boston
Exposure: The PRC Annual Juried Exhibition, Photographic Resource Center, Boston, MA
Juried by Jen Bekman, Jen Bekman Gallery, NY, NY
New Art 2007, MPG Contemporary Gallery, Boston, MA
Juried by Raphaela Platow, Chief Curator, Rose Art Museum, Waltham, MA
2006 New Talent, Alpha Gallery, Boston, MA
24th Annual Members' Juried Exhibition (Critic's Choice Award), Houston Center for Photography
Cambridge Art Association 2006 National Prize Show (1st Place), Cambridge, MA (Catalog)
Juried by Cheryl Brutvan, Curator of Contemporary Art, Museum of Fine Art Boston
Northeast Exposure Online, Internet Showcase (www.bu.edu/prc/knight.htm)
Spaces: Process Revealed, Pearl Street Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2005 Red, University Place Gallery, Cambridge, MA
Juried by Nick Capasso, Curator, DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
Decisive Moments, Kathryn Schultz Gallery, Cambridge, MA
Juried by Judi Rotenberg, Judi Rotenberg Gallery, Boston, MA
Essex Art Center Juried Exhibition, Essex, MA
Juried by Howard Yezerski, Director, Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston, MA
Hey, Hot Shot, Jen Bekman Gallery, New York, NY
Juried by Jen Bekman & Stephen Frailey, Chair of Photography, School of Visual Arts
New England Open Photography & Sculpture, Kathryn Schultz Gallery
Juried by Leslie K. Brown, Curator, Photographic Resource Center
AWARDS
2007 2007 Photographer of the Year, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA
2006 2006 Photographer of the Year, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA
1st Place, National Prize Show, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA
Critic's Choice Award, 24th Annual Juried Exhibition, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX
2005 Honorable Mention, New England Open, Kathryn Schultz Gallery, Cambridge, MA
2004 Honorable Mention, Blue, University Place Gallery, Cambridge, MA
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2008 The Boston Globe, November 12, “Child's World”, by Cate McQuaid
Purpose, Volume 8, Autumn 2008 (www.purpose.fr)
In the Loupe, Volume 32, Number 3, May / June 2008
2007 Art New England, October / November, “Interior Worlds, Exterior Visions”, by Shawn Hill
The Boston Globe, September 6, “Biennial in Focus at Danforth”, by Denise Taylor
2006 The Boston Globe, June 15, “Mysticism and Mystery”, by Cate McQuaid