Dia/Grammar

NICHOLAS KNIGHT / DIA/GRAMMAR

EUGENE BINDER / MARFA TEXAS

NICHOLAS KNIGHT DIA/GRAMMAR

EUGENE BINDER MARFA TEXAS

7 OCTOBER - 3 DECEMBER 2005

1. Motion For Progress (Graham)

2. Interesting (Goethe)

3. Transformed (Picasso)

4. Analogy (Thoreau)

5. Indifference (Hegel)

6. Error (Mencken)

7. Verbatim (Aldrich)

8. Misinterpreted (Bochner)

9. Plural (Barthes)

10. Division (Reed)

11. Grammar (Trench)

12. Unnecessary (Strunk)

13. Thread (Bartlett)

DIA/GRAMMAR For several years my work has been concerned with rule systems.

Sentence diagrams interested me because they are governed by graphic conventions that visually embody the grammatical rules of English. There, branching across the page, are the relationships that transform words into meanings.

The primary place one encounters sentence diagrams is in grammar textbooks. Generally this encounter includes some example diagrams, explanations of a few pivotal parts of speech and their corresponding visual forms, and a list of sentences on which the student can practice. But because the analysis is meant to teach proper usage—it is a means to an end, not an end in itself—a disconnect exists between the activity of drawing and the intentions of the student. A diagram is constructed “as if” it depicted general rules of syntax itself, at the expense of the sentence at hand.

Once pieced together, however, the sentences I choose reflect the authors’ sentiments back onto the acts of looking and reading.

This “doubling back” effectively removes the “as if” from these diagrams; by being diagrammed each quotation is inflected with a new meaning, and the drawing is no longer a hypothetical demonstration, but an intervention, an act of drawing out: black armatures exposing the entanglements of language.

Nicholas Knight

Catalog Information Motion For Progress (Graham) tape, pencil, and vinyl on wall size determined by installation 2005 1.

Misinterpreted (Bochner) ink, pencil, and collage on paper 21.75 x 22.5 inches 2005

2.

Interesting (Goethe) ink, pencil, and collage on paper 22.5 x 24 inches 2005

8.

3.

Transformed (Picasso) ink, pencil, and collage on paper 24.75 x 19.75 inches 2005

9.

4.

Analogy (Thoreau) ink, pencil, and collage on paper 25 x 21 inches 2005

10.

5.

Indifference (Hegel) ink, pencil, and collage on paper 27 x 27 inches 2005

11.

6.

Error (Mencken) ink, pencil, and collage on paper 36 x 21 inches 2005

12.

Verbatim (Aldrich) ink, pencil, and collage on paper 18.75 x 20 inches 2005

13.

7.

Plural (Barthes) ink, pencil, and collage on paper 19.75 x 24.5 inches 2005 Division (Reed) ink, pencil, and collage on paper 18 x 25.75 inches 2005 Grammar (Trench) ink, pencil, and collage on paper 19 x 18 inches 2005 Unnecessary (Strunk) ink, pencil, and collage on paper 17 x 30 inches 2005 Thread (Bartlett) ink, pencil, and collage on paper 27 x 18.5 inches 2005

Nicholas Knight 47-33 5th Street Long Island City, NY 11101

Solo

and

Two-Person Exhibitions

Background Born 1975, Indiana. Lives and works in New York City.

Nicholas Knight. October—December, 2005. Eugene Binder Gallery, Marfa, Texas.

Nicholas Knight and Hideki Nakazawa. January - March, 2006.

Akus Gallery, Willimantic, Connecticut.

Education 1997 Indiana University, Bloomington.

Bachelor of Fine Arts, Painting; Minor, Art

History; Minor, History and Philosopy of

Science.

Selected Group Exhibitions 2005 Systematic. Vox Populi Gallery, Philadelphia.

Wordplay. Julie Saul Gallery, New York.

Transubstantiation. Morsel Gallery, Brooklyn.

Art on the Line. Galeria Janet Kurnatowski, Brooklyn.

2004 Queens International 2004. Queens Museum of Art, New York.

Group Exhibition. 128 Rivington Gallery, New York.

In the Face of Others. Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York.

2003 TECH-NOW. NewSpace Gallery, Manchester Community College, Manchester, Connecticut. Curated by Joseph Smolinski.

Info@Blah. Mills Gallery, Boston Center for the Arts, Boston.

Nurturing the New. The Viewing Room, New York.

2001-2002 Winter Show. Two Bow Thais. Brooklyn, NY. Night of A Thousand Drawings. Artists Space, New York.

25th Annual Small Works Competition and Exhibition. 80 Washington Square East Galleries, New York University. New York.

Arts and Technology Towards Recovery. October, 2001.

Clocktower Building, Long Island City, NY. Art Resources Transfer Annual Benefit. April, 2001. Art Resources Transfer, Inc., New York.

Nicholas Knight DIA/GRAMMAR 7 October - 3 December 2005 Eugene Binder 218 N Highland Avenue Marfa, TX 79843 binderart@earthlink.net

All photography by N. Knight