Figure emblématique de la photographie contemporaine, Karen Knorr appartient à une génération d’artistes ayant remis en question la nature de la photographie
An American born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Karen Knorr was raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico in the 1960s and educated in Paris and London. At the University of Westminster, Knorr studied alongside Olivier Richon, Mitra Tabrizian and Mark Lewis, addressing the critical debates concerning the "politics of representation" that emerged during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Knorr has taught and lectured internationally at institutions that include The University of Westminster, Goldsmiths College, Harvard University and The Art Institute of Chicago.
Karen Knorr’s work has developed a critical and playful dialogue with photography, using different visual and textual strategies to explore her subject matter, focusing upon themes that range from the family and lifestyle to the animal and its representation in the museum context. Knorr uses photography to explore western cultural traditions, from the gentlemen’s clubs of Saint James to elegant Palladian country houses, presenting and commenting upon British society. Her work constantly maintains a critical dialogue with conceptual art, visual culture, feminism and animal studies.