Gerhardt Knodel's Studio Practice and Latest Projects Featured by HOUR Detroit
Photograph by Sal Rodriguez for HOUR Detroit
Fiber artist Gerhardt Knodel, former Director and Head of Fiber at Cranbrook Academy of Art was recently featured by HOUR Detroit in his Pontiac studio. Knodel is currently at work on a new project he refers to as a journey — “the idea of transitioning from one thing to the next.”
Inspired by Sumatran textiles in his personal collection, Knodel has created nine midsize rectangular wall-hanging panels, each captioned with a stanza he wrote. The panels are adorned with colorful human figures, a sailboat, and abstract shapes that he assembled from fabrics.
Currently in progress, his working idea is that viewers will see each panel and read each stanza in order, following a linear narrative of the journey. Knodel has also been exploring marionettes, which he first worked with as a child, creating a stage to host puppet shows in his parents’ home in Los Angeles.
You can find works by Knodel throughout metro Detroit. He completed a work for Henry Ford II’s office in 1976 at the Ford Motor Co. headquarters in Dearborn. The next year, Ford and architect John C. Portman Jr. commissioned “Free Fall,” a textile piece in a then newly opened Renaissance Center hotel. Knodel also created installations for Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, the American Center in Southfield, and the Northville District Library.
Knodel became the Head of Fiber at Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1970 after several years working as a high school art teacher in Los Angeles. He became the Director of the Academy in 1995, serving until 2007.
Learn More:
Artist Gerhardt Knodel Shares a Glimpse of His Newest Project – Hour Detroit
