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Christopher Knowles

American, born 1959

MoMA.org ↗ Wikidata ↗

Christopher Knowles is an American poet and painter. He was born in New York City on May 4, 1959, and at an early age received a diagnosis of possible brain damage. He is often referred to as autistic. In 1976, his poetry was used by Robert Wilson for the avant-garde minimalist Philip Glass opera, Einstein on the Beach. Wilson described his discovery of the then 13-year-old Knowles, in the extended notes to the Tomato Records release of Einstein on the Beach: In early 1973 a man ... gave me an audio tape ... I was fascinated. The tape was entitled "Emily Likes the TV". On it a young man's voice spoke continuously creating repetitions and variations on phrases about Emily watching the TV. I began to realize that the words flowed to a patterned rhythm whose logic was self-supporting. It was a piece coded much like music. Like a cantata or fugue it worked with conjugations of thoughts repeated in variations...

Source: Wikipedia

Works in Collection

11 works
Artifacts at the End of a Decade

Artifacts at the End of a Decade

Sandi Fellman

1981

Patty Hearst

Patty Hearst

Christopher Knowles

1982

Untitled ('c' Grids)

Untitled ('c' Grids)

Christopher Knowles

(1988)

Untitled (Christopher Knowles, Puevfgbcure Xabjyrf)

Untitled (Christopher Knowles, Puevfgbcure Xabjyrf)

Christopher Knowles

1980

Untitled (Davis Park, Fire Island, Skylight)

Untitled (Davis Park, Fire Island, Skylight)

Christopher Knowles

1983

Untitled (Green Window)

Untitled (Green Window)

Christopher Knowles

(1988)

Untitled (Like a Rolling Stone)

Untitled (Like a Rolling Stone)

Christopher Knowles

(c.1981)

Untitled (My Name Is Christopher Knowles)

Untitled (My Name Is Christopher Knowles)

Christopher Knowles

c. 1980

Untitled (Sunshine Superman)

Untitled (Sunshine Superman)

Christopher Knowles

(c .1981)

Untitled (Top 50 of 1967, Top 50 of 1968, Top 50 of 1969, Top 50 of 1970)

Untitled (Top 50 of 1967, Top 50 of 1968, Top 50 of 1969,...

Christopher Knowles

(c. late 1970's)

Untitled (Top 500 of All Songs)

Untitled (Top 500 of All Songs)

Christopher Knowles

(c. 1980/1981)

Exhibitions

3 exhibitions

Feb 13, 1977 – Apr 09, 1978

New Art for the New Year

33 artists

Mar 05, 1979 – May 29, 1979

The Stage Show

27 artists · 1 curator

Jun 11, 1981 – Sep 15, 1981

Summer Light

24 artists