Stephen Knapp has been creating art for over thirty years that interacts with, and is transformed by light. Combining art and science, Knapp creates innovative and engaging works that are formed at the intersection of painting, sculpture, and architecture. Dispensing with traditional media and narrative content, Knapp's "lightpaintings," a word he coined to describe his light-based installations, are both innovated and invigorating: transposing artistic tradition into the hyper-stimulated world of the twenty-first century. He creates his "lightpaintings" using a special glass treated with layers of metallic coatings that act as a selective prism to separate focused light into different wavelengths of the color spectrum. Knapp cuts, shapes, and polishes the glass in his studio to create a palette that he uses to refract and reflect light onto a surface and surrounding space. The artist's unique ability to harness the power of light represents a new form of visual art. Knapp's "lightpaintings" have been the focus of many museum and gallery exhibitions throughout the country, and have been selected as permanent site-specific installations for museums and public spaces. The exhibition at The Hyde Collection will include approximately fourteen works and an exterior piece installed by the artist.
This exhibition is part of our "Summer of Light".
Image: Stephen Knapp, American, b. 1947, Serenata, 2003-2008, light, glass, stainless steel, 13 feet x 21 feet x 10 inches
