Karin Kneffel is known for her eloquent artworks that she puts in a fabulous form without decontextualizing them from reality. When the artist constructs perfect impossibilities, she collapses heterogeneous places and incidents in a flawlessly executed, seductively realist manner. Although many of her sources actually exist, resulting images are cunningly wrought scenes inspired by the many lives of art, and which highlight painting’s unique ability to simultaneously uphold and destroy illusions. Drawing her inspiration from her teacher Gerard Richter, Kneffel developed her technique creating a voyeuristic pleasure for the viewer.

Karin Kneffel (b. 1957, Marl) studied at the Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf between 1981 and 1987. She currently teaches at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München. Among her recent solo and group exhibitions are at the Museum Jean de La Fontaine, France (1999); Monks House-Museum of Modern Art, Germany (2006); Kunst-Station Sankt Peter, Cologne (2008); Haus Esters, Germany (2009); Kunsthalle Tübingen, Germany (2010); Museo De Arte Contemporáneo, Spain (2014); Barcelona Pavilion, Spain (2014); Fallstudien, Kathe Kollwitz Museum, Germany (2015); Works on Paper, Kunsthalle Bremerhaven, Germany (2015); and Bild im Bild, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany (2017). Karin Kneffel lives and works in Düsseldorf.