Led R. Nanirok

First monograph

The book is the first monograph on Daniel Knorr, one of the most important Romanian artists of the younger generation. Designed by Ludovic Balland in close collaboration with the artist, the publication is produced as an independent project alongside with Knorr’s comprehensive survey exhibition at Kunsthalle Basel.

The book contains a selection of Knorr’s works and includes studies for unrealized projects, as well as additional visual material from various sources to accompany the six newly commissioned essays. Romanian poet and writer Bogdan Ghiu elaborates upon the role of materialization and “politicization” in Knorr’s practice. Dieter Roelstraete, a Belgian art critic, editor of London-based “Afterall” magazine and curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp (MuHKA), discusses the artist’s use of found objects in the context of the transition to the market economy in the Eastern European countries. The young Romanian curator and urban theorist, editor of “Architext” magazine in Bucarest, Alina Serban, provides a background analysis of the recent development of cities and architecture in post-Ceaucescu Romania, which are among the fundamental reference points for some of Knorr’s sculptures and photographs. Attila Torday-S., co-founder and for many years editor of the Romanian art magazine “Idea,” emphasizes in his text the future potential of Daniel Knorr’s work and, while drawing inspiration from his current production, presents a scenario for the artist’s possible development. Adam Szymczyk, director of Kunsthalle Basel, and Rein Wolfs, director of Kunsthalle Fridericianum Kassel, curators of Daniel Knorr’s exhibitions at both institutions respectively, present both exhibitions in an introductory text.

The publication, with its unusual graphic design, partly inspired by Japanese mangas, as well as its carefully selected composition of texts, will remain a source publication on Daniel Knorr’s work for years to come.