Karen Knorr - Hera's Eyes
Villa Oplontis, Torre Annunziata, 2024
Scavi, Italian for excavation began in 2023 after a visit to the sites surrounding Naples. The series explores myth and story from Roman and Greek Antiquity, traces of which are found on the painted murals of archeological heritage sites in The Bay of Naples. In 79 AD Mount Vesuvius erupted, covering several cities in the Naples area. Today Herculaneum, Torre Annunziata, Pompeii are part of world heritage and visited by millions eager to view the extraordinary remnants of ancient Roman life buried under volcanic debris for centuries and discovered by architect Domenico Fontana in 1599.
The frescoes excavated in Pompeii and Herculaneum include still lives as offerings, detailed representations of food, flowers, household items; offering a glimpse into the everyday life of slaves and citizens. They also depict myths typical of ancient Greece such as the story of Frisso and Elle, who become refugees driven out of their home by their stepmother who bribed the oracle of Delphi to have the children killed as a form of sacrifice to end the famine that befell their homeland. Or the story of Leda and the Swan; according to myth, Zeus the king of the gods transformed himself into a swan to seduce Leda queen of Sparta.
Animals appear in this new work as symbolic elements to explore themes of culture, myth and belief, highlighting the divide between nature and culture referencing the transience and fragility of both human and animal life. The eruption of Vesuvius not only preserved buildings and artefacts but captured poignant moments of the city’s animal life. Plaster casts made of victims of the eruption revealed the presence of animals among human remains, highlighting the close bonds between humans and animals. In addition to domestic animals, exotic animals were also part of Pompeiian life. Wealthy residents kept monkeys, parrots, wild leopards and lions as symbols of status and prestige. Today these animals reappear in Knorr’s photographs as reminders of the myth and stories that invite viewers to reflect on the interplay between history and modernity, myth and reality.
Karen Knorr was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany and was raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico in the 1960s. She finished her education in Paris and London. Karen Knorr has taught, exhibited and lectured internationally, including at Tate Britain, Tate Modern, The University of Westminster, Goldsmiths, Harvard and The Art Institute of Chicago. She studied at the University of Westminster in the mid-1970s, exhibiting photography that addressed debates in cultural studies and film theory concerning the ‘politics of representation’ practices which emerged during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Karen Knorr has been the professor of photography at the University for the Creative Arts since 2010. Karen Knorr’s photography explores cultural heritage and its ideological underpinnings. Questions concerning post colonialism and its relationship to aesthetics permeate her photographic work. Karen Knorr won the V International Photography Pilar Citoler Prize in 2010. She has been nominated for the Deutsche Börse in 2011 and 2012 and Prix Pictet in 2012. Karen Knorr’s photography has been exhibited worldwide and is included in collections including the Museum of London, Tate, Pompidou, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Folkwang Museum, Essen, Kyoto Museum of Modern Art.
Karen Knorr - Hera's Eyes
Villa Oplontis, Torre Annunziata, 2024
Scavi, Italian for excavation began in 2023 after a visit to the sites surrounding Naples. The series explores myth and story from Roman and Greek Antiquity, traces of which are found on the painted murals of archeological heritage sites in The Bay of Naples. In 79 AD Mount Vesuvius erupted, covering several cities in the Naples area. Today Herculaneum, Torre Annunziata, Pompeii are part of world heritage and visited by millions eager to view the extraordinary remnants of ancient Roman life buried under volcanic debris for centuries and discovered by architect Domenico Fontana in 1599.
The frescoes excavated in Pompeii and Herculaneum include still lives as offerings, detailed representations of food, flowers, household items; offering a glimpse into the everyday life of slaves and citizens. They also depict myths typical of ancient Greece such as the story of Frisso and Elle, who become refugees driven out of their home by their stepmother who bribed the oracle of Delphi to have the children killed as a form of sacrifice to end the famine that befell their homeland. Or the story of Leda and the Swan; according to myth, Zeus the king of the gods transformed himself into a swan to seduce Leda queen of Sparta.
Animals appear in this new work as symbolic elements to explore themes of culture, myth and belief, highlighting the divide between nature and culture referencing the transience and fragility of both human and animal life. The eruption of Vesuvius not only preserved buildings and artefacts but captured poignant moments of the city’s animal life. Plaster casts made of victims of the eruption revealed the presence of animals among human remains, highlighting the close bonds between humans and animals. In addition to domestic animals, exotic animals were also part of Pompeiian life. Wealthy residents kept monkeys, parrots, wild leopards and lions as symbols of status and prestige. Today these animals reappear in Knorr’s photographs as reminders of the myth and stories that invite viewers to reflect on the interplay between history and modernity, myth and reality.
Karen Knorr was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany and was raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico in the 1960s. She finished her education in Paris and London. Karen Knorr has taught, exhibited and lectured internationally, including at Tate Britain, Tate Modern, The University of Westminster, Goldsmiths, Harvard and The Art Institute of Chicago. She studied at the University of Westminster in the mid-1970s, exhibiting photography that addressed debates in cultural studies and film theory concerning the ‘politics of representation’ practices which emerged during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Karen Knorr has been the professor of photography at the University for the Creative Arts since 2010. Karen Knorr’s photography explores cultural heritage and its ideological underpinnings. Questions concerning post colonialism and its relationship to aesthetics permeate her photographic work. Karen Knorr won the V International Photography Pilar Citoler Prize in 2010. She has been nominated for the Deutsche Börse in 2011 and 2012 and Prix Pictet in 2012. Karen Knorr’s photography has been exhibited worldwide and is included in collections including the Museum of London, Tate, Pompidou, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Folkwang Museum, Essen, Kyoto Museum of Modern Art.