Oral history interview with Gerhardt Knodel
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 4 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 7 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hr., 23 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Knodel, Gerhardt
label: Interviewer
content: Adamson, Glenn
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: Cranbrook Academy of Art -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Los Angeles City College -- Students
label: Names
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
label: Names
content: University of California, Los Angeles -- Students
label: Names
content: Abakanowicz, Magdalena
label: Names
content: Al-Hilali, Neda, 1938-
label: Names
content: Albers, Anni
label: Names
content: Andreson, Laura
label: Names
content: Christo, 1935-
label: Names
content: Hicks, Sheila, 1934-
label: Names
content: Kester, Bernard
label: Names
content: Larsen, Jack Lenor
label: Names
content: Leland, Mary Jane
label: Names
content: Smith, Kiki, 1954-
label: Names
content: Tawney, Lenore
label: Names
content: Zeisler, Claire, 1903-1991
place: label: Place
content: California -- Los Angeles -- Description and Travel
label: Place
content: Michigan -- Description and Travel
topic: label: Occupation
content: Fiber artists -- California
label: Topic
content: Abstract expressionism
label: Topic
content: Decorative arts
label: Topic
content: Textile crafts
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Knodel, Gerhardt
label: Interviewer
content: Adamson, Glenn
label: Creator
content: Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Gerhardt Knodel (1940-) is a fiber artist from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Glenn Adamson is a curator and, art historian from Wisconsin.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 7 Items (Sound recording: 7 sound files (5 hr., 23 min.), digital, wav)
label: Extent
content: 77 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2004 August 3
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.knodel04
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Gerhardt Knodel conducted 2004 August 3, by Glenn Adamson, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Knodel speaks of his German heritage; his parents each immigrating to Los Angeles; growing up in Los Angeles and being part of the German community; his father building houses; the influence of his childhood environment on his artwork; taking art classes in school; participating in theater and set design; studying art at Los Angeles City College; collecting textiles; transferring to UCLA; teaching high school art; the influence of Abstract Expressionism on his early work; quitting teaching and studying fiber arts at University of California, Long Beach; traveling to numerous countries, and their influence on his artwork; researching and lecturing on fabric as environment; how the fiber art movement has evolved and changed; early exhibitions and the need for more venues; the fiber art community in the 1960s and 70s; the importance of University art programs; moving to Michigan and teaching at Cranbrook; the importance of scale and context in his work; making large scale pieces to fit within an architectural space; working on commission for public projects; working with the community in Pontiac, Michigan on a commissioned piece; the influence of the history of textiles; being director of the Cranbrook Academy of Art; putting figures on to textiles; the decline of the fiber art movement; and the benefits of schools such as Cranbrook. Knodel also recalls Bernard Kester, Mary Jane Leland, Laura Andreson, Anni Albers, Sheila Hicks, Neda Al-Hilali, Lenore Tawney, Claire Zeisler, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Jack Lenor Larsen, Christo, Kiki Smith, and others.