Kevin Knopp

"Dried Flowers in Porcelain Vase", Oil painting by Kevin Knopp in artist's frame

2019

Kevin Knopp is a Wisconsin-based painter known for his lyrical landscapes and sensitive still life, influenced by what the artist calls, "the uncanny and overlooked in our ubiquitous everyday landscape." Knopp's work is heavily inspired by impressionism, both in technique and intent, using soft pastels colors and plein air painting techniques as he attempts to capture "a particular event and emotional experience in time and space that is then hopefully conveyed to the viewer." A piano tuner by trade, Knopp's profession, and own "purposeful tourism" take him to the far corners of the world. His works include subjects close to home such as Faskel Road in New London, WI, all the way to the Szczecin Harbor of the Pomerania region on the Polish-German border, where his grandmother was born in 1881. Knopp has been quoted as saying "The surface of a painting or drawing conveys a visual perception of the space represented, I strive for the paint to dissolve as much as possible into a recreation of a visual experience on the surface of the work.” He mentions Mark Rothko as an example of another artist who has so much significance in the surface of his paintings. Knopp was introduced to the world of Impressionism at the Chicago Art Institute, and later abstract impressionism while attending undergrad at Viterbo University and the New York Studio School. Knopp later spent time in Paris and earned his MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Art. He has gone on to teach art at every level, most recently as an adjunct professor of painting and art appreciation at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He has shown his work in several galleries throughout Wisconsin, including the Haggerty Museum of Art and the David Barnett Gallery in Milwaukee, the Riverfront Arts Center in Stevens Point, and the Front Gallery in La Crosse. His work was likewise included in the 2007 Wisconsin Artists Biennial at the Museum of Wisconsin Art. When he is not painting, he spends his time immersed in music, playing the drums for his band and tuning pianos. He has been living with his wife in Waupaca, Wisconsin for the past 34 years.