The great thing about keeping some distance from the dominant trends in the art world is that you stand a reasonable chance of remaining true to what is most unique about your own art-making: your own eye, ear, voice or hand (all are involved in what flows from the imagination). Tom Knechtel is as aware of the hustle and rustle of fashion as anyone in this world, but has kept his eye focused on the truth and fantasy he observes close at hand. Close observation is at the heart of his art, and it is luxuriantly on display in not one, but two shows running concurrently. Knechtel has in recent years gradually shifted his focus from the surreal circus that swirls in many of his best paintings (and not incidentally, here, too – e.g., Let’s See – albeit tied here to the real-life nightmare of drought) to more direct transcriptions of surrounding actualities, nature, family, loved ones – and not least, himself; but the unrelenting rigor of Knechtel’s gaze continues to distill poetry and theatre from the simplest line drawing. Knechtel’s mastery reminds us that the simple act of looking can be the purest demonstration of faith.

Marc Selwyn Fine Art
9953 S. Santa Monica Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
Show runs thru October 29, 2016

CB1 Gallery
1923 S. Santa Fe Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90021
Show runs thru October 30, 2016