This work comes out of a history of formality and a desire to break apart the structure of a system, specifically Painting. I question what makes up a painting: how it is formed, what it can be, what it can mean, where it comes from.
I consider the formal in its most basic existence, separating line, color, shape. Using these elements I arrange and rearrange, coming upon more questions within these fragile relationships. There is a lot of looking that takes place. After putting down paint, I sit and look, trying to see the forms and spaces that have been shaped and those that could be.
I try to stay in this liminal space of transience. It is a place of wonder and precarity, lines and forms falling apart, barely stable. To not know, to be unsecure in meaning, draws out openness and a welcoming of fear and doubt. There is strength in the pursuit and in the mere existence. There is energy in the endless exploration that transfers to and draws from everyday life and I hope enters the lives of those that encounter this work.
Devon McKnight hails from Climax, North Carolina where they studied painting at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. They traveled to California seeking a new landscape and completed their Masters of Fine Art at San Jose State University in 2015. After graduating Devon lived and worked in East Oakland but has since returned home to North Carolina where they help run a community arts organization. McKnight’s work has been shown throughout the United States, as well as Australia. They have participated in various residencies including RAYGUN in Toowoomba, Australia and LIKEWISE in Portland, Oregon. Devon has curated their own and other artist’s work through an artist collective called Spare Room and is a contributing writer to The Coastal Post.
CV
Exhibitions
2023 U, The Arts Center, Carrboro, NC
2023 In the Absence of Others, The Fourth Wall Gallery, Oakland, CA
2020 A Living Room, COHAB, High Point, NC
2019 100 x 100, Center for Visual Artists, Greensboro, NC
2018 Green, Green Bean, Greensboro, NC
2017 Work It Out, Studio 503, Greensboro, NC
2015 Star-Crossed Lovers, Pho69, San Jose, CA
2015 BlackWhiteBlue, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
2014 Devon McKnight, 231B, San Jose, CA
2014 MFA Showcase, San Jose, CA
2013 Gabriel Serpa, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
2013 Devon McKnight, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
2013 Lindsay Montgomeray, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
2013 Devon McKnight, Raygun, Toowoomba, Australia
2013 At the age of ten, you will be allowed in the deep end, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
2013 Six, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
2012 San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
2012 The Green Bean, Greensboro, NC
2011 (E)merging, 5ive and 40rty, Winston-Salem, NC
2010 Interesting People, Spare Room, Greensboro, NC
2010 Spare Room: The Pilot. Spare Room, Greensboro, NC
2010 University of North Carolina at Greensboro BFA Senior Exhibition, Gatewood
Gallery, Greensboro, NC
2010 Art 496, 230-A South Elm street, Greensboro, NC
2009 Woodland Romp, Peabody Park, Greensboro, NC
Collaborative Projects
2014 SJSU and Alzahra Photography Collaborative, SJSU, San Jose, CA/Alzahra
University, Tehran, Iran
2013 Lindsay Montgomery, Gallery 2, San Jose, CA
2012 FREE, Gallery 3, San Jose, CA
2011 Life After Death, The Green Bean, Greensboro, NC and Portland, OR
2011 A Few of Our Favorite Things, University of Southern Queensland Toowoomba,
Australia
2010 WSPR- Spare Room Radio, Greensboro, NC and Portland, OR
2010 The 50 Mile Club, Hole in the Wall Restaurants, Everywhere, USA
2010 A Tribute to Tom Marioni, Greensboro, NC
Curatorial Experience
2017 Work It Out, Studio 503, Greensboro, NC
2015 San Jose State Graduate Lift Off Catalogue
2010 A Temporary Exhibition, Giant Eagle, Pittsburgh, PA
2010 Interesting People, Elm Street, Greensboro, NC
2010 An Installation with Matthew Thomason, United Art Council, Greensboro, NC
2010 Ice Cream, Fincastle's Diner, Greensboro, NC
2010 The People's Art Sale, Blue Zoom, Greensboro, NC
2010 A Temporary Exhibition, AC Moore, Greenboro, NC
2010 The Merger, Blue Zoom, Greenboro, NC
2010 The Pilot, Smother's Place Lofts, Greensboro, NC
Workshops/Residencies
2019 Panelist for Elsewhere Museum Residency Review, Greensboro, NC
2016 Bartender in Residence, Likewise, Portland, OR
2013 Artist in Residence, Raygun, Toowoomba, AU
2012 Art and Art History Graduate Club, San Jose State University, CA
2011 Open Engagement, Portland State University, Portland, OR
2010 Conflux Festival, East Village, New York, NY
2010 Face To Face, The Least Common Denominator, Greensboro, NC
2010 Penland School of Craft, Bakersville, NC
Writing/Public Speaking
2018 FREEPIZZA podcast, Greensboro, NC
2017 Exhibition review of Ashley Johnson’s Reach, Revolution Mills, Greensboro, NC
2015 Contributing writer for The Coastal Post, San Francisco/New York
2014 Guest Lecture, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA (Contemporary Theory
Graduate Seminar; Two Dimensional Design and Color Concepts)
Teaching Experience
2015 Art Instructor, Gavilan College, Gilroy, CA
Teaching Assistant, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
2014 Teaching Associate, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA