Michael Benevento and Kristina Kite are pleased to present a two-person exhibition bringing together works by Joan Jonas and Silke Otto-Knapp. The exhibition includes four video works by Jonas — Wind (1968), Glass Puzzle (1973), I Want to Live in the Country (and Other Romances) (1976), and Volcano Saga (1989) — alongside watercolors, collages, and preparatory studies by Otto-Knapp, including early gouaches of ballet scenes and maquettes of her multi-panel screen paintings.
Jonas's video works presented here span several decades of her practice and reflect her longstanding interest in performance, memory, and myth. Otto-Knapp's works on paper trace her interest in choreographed ensembles, rendering collective movement as something both precise and ephemeral. Studies for multi-panel screen paintings evoke both forest and stage set. Held together by a shared attention to landscape and the body in performance, the exhibition proposes an encounter between two practices that illuminate each other across time and medium.
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Joan Jonas (b. 1936, New York) is a pioneering figure in video and performance art whose work has been exhibited internationally for over five decades. She lives and works in New York and Nova Scotia.
Silke Otto-Knapp (1970–2022) was born in Osnabrück, Germany and lived and worked in Los Angeles. Known for her watercolor and gouache paintings exploring dance, landscape, and theatrical space, her work is held in major public and private collections worldwide.
Special thanks to Joan Jonas and Gladstone Gallery, New York for their collaboration. Silke Otto-Knapp’s works are in association with Regen Projects and the Estate of Silke-Otto Knapp. Thank you to Shaun Regen, Iris Madill and Cornelia Grassi for their generous support of the exhibition.
