(b. 1964, Brooklyn, NY) 

Inspired by self-constructed narrative, fragments of memory and emotion, and a restless desire to grapple with the contours of the experiential, Harry Knapp is an artist based in Los Angeles. 

Girded by his deep knowledge of film and still photography, and utilizing a wide range of material and technique, including oil, acrylic, resin, photography, found materials, and digital assemblage, Harry pinpoints experimentation as a primary value, and resists confinement to a single formal approach, preferring to discover the apt media for his meaning.  

Refreshing the key 20th-Century Southern California Light & Space Movement inspirations of the surf board, hot rod car culture, the diverse topography of ocean, desert, and mountain, and the golden gleam and open air of “magic hour”, Harry uses shaped board and hand-poured reflective resin, racing stripes, and the metaphor of surfing to delineate and explore concepts of freedom, fraternity, and peace. 

Working for decades as a producer, production manager, first a.d., and screenwriter in the film and television industry, including a transformative crucible in the Thai jungle with Werner Herzog and Christian Bale on the P.O.W. classic “Rescue Dawn”, Harry has consistently maintained a personal creative practice informed by his mother’s work as a painter and art educator in Brooklyn, NY.  

The artist began sharing his private work in 2018 and then heightened his focus on mark-and image-making during the Pandemic. Losing three dear friends in the span of six months, Harry was compelled to face vulnerability and mortality head-on, which catalyzed a breakthrough in his life and creative work.

“We connect to stories, the duality between artist and subject, and how that emanates from rumination to canvas”. 

Harry is an active surfer, father, grandfather, auto aficionado, and maintains deep family ties in the South Bay of Los Angeles and Joshua Tree. 

harryknapp.com

IG @harryknappart