Karen Knorr

Born in 1954 in Francfort (DE)
Lives and works in London (GB)

Belgravia

1979-1980
Black and white photograph, gelatin-silver print
50,8 x 40,5 cm
Year of Purchase: 1987

Since the 1970s, Karen Knorr’s work has been divided into seven series. The first, and, probably the most important because it was decisive for the work to follow, was Belgravia. At the outset, this set of images is part of a clearly defined perimeter: that of a London neighbourhood. For the occasion, the artist summons a group of people placed in a set. Are they playing their own parts? Are they extras taken on for the occasion? The photographs offer no answer. This indeterminacy is bolstered by the tension between the share of make-believe and the share of documentation. These images, which are all treated with the same cold realism, offer an example of private places with standardized decoration that is thoroughly representative of the social conditions of their occupants. The compatibility is even so perfect that the viewer even starts doubting the authenticity of these ‘reports’. However, the text printed beneath the image – words describing very precisely what is present in the shot – leads the viewer to question the role of the image in a society structured by fixed codes of representation. At once critically loaded with regard to the ambiguities of our culture, and an attempt to play with every manner and style of figuration, Karen Knorr’s art is forever engaging us in the way we conceive our lives and our relationship with others.

^{Damien Sausset}