Rainen Knecht

Attitude Problem

January 13 - February 24, 2018

CAPITAL is proud to present our second solo exhibition with artist Rainen Knecht.

For this exhibition, Knecht continues to investigate the dark psychology of female figures and animals, with new large-scale paintings, in oil on canvas and linen. The women depicted are villains, adolescents, hard, tough, awkward, funny, gross; women with attitude problems, women who are angry, women who are smiling but unhinged. Knecht’s paintings are also filled with animals such as horses, dogs, bears, possums, cats, raccoons, etc — animals who share personality and affect with their human counterparts.

Knecht is interested in the power these beings possess and project. The figures in Knecht’s paintings wear a variety of masks — these masks have a stiff feeling and range in tone, from a ceremonial death mask, to a face made up in drag, to a stranger with a strained or crooked smile; the intention is always hard to read.

The narratives in Knecht’s paintings are drawn from, and inspired by, regional folklore and fairy tales, personal history, art history, horror and science fiction films, as well as handmade masks and costumes from various folk art traditions.