Reilly Knowles: i become as a bird

Good Sport Gallery & Studios

Reilly Knowles, The Seer (detail), oil on panel, 122 x 152 cm, 2023.

Reilly Knowles: i become as a bird

October 11 – November 5, 2023
Opening Reception: October 13, 7 – 9pm
Artist Talk: October 13, 8pm
Good Sport Gallery & Studios, London, ON

In this solo exhibition inspired by Southwestern Ontario folktales of witches, seers, faith healers and phantoms, Reilly Knowles uses painting and papercuts to explore settler legends of the supernatural in which human bodies tangle with the earth and its creatures. Maybe-human, maybe-animal and maybe-plant, the subjects of i become as a bird represent an interpretation of these stories in which the colonist becomes metaphysically enmeshed with rather than separate from the more-than-human realm. Yet this intertwining is far from idyllic; the artworks also reflect upon the paranoia and pain underpinning these historical “accounts” of a haunted world.

Reilly Knowles, One Last Burn (detail), oil on panel, 122 x 152 cm, 2023.

About the Artist

Reilly Knowles is a settler and emerging interdisciplinary artist living and working in London, Ontario. A 2020 graduate of Western University’s Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts program, Knowles has presented work at galleries including Forest City Gallery (London, Ont.), Museum London (London, Ont.), and Jordan Art Gallery (Jordan, Ont.) Knowles is a member of London-based collectives Good Sport and The Coves Collective, as well as a recipient of the Tony and Betsy Little Gold Medal in Visual Arts, the Canadian Embroiderers’ Guild Memorial Prize, and the Mackie Cryderman Award for Excellence in Visual Arts.

About Good Sport Gallery & Studios

Good Sport is a member-driven gallery and studio space that exists for the development and exhibition of emerging artists. The gallery is open on Saturdays from 12 – 4pm and by appointment. For more information or to make an appointment, contact the gallery using the information in the section below.

Free street parking is available on Richmond St. after 6pm and on Sundays. To get free parking at any other time, use the code “CORE” in the Honk parking app. When arriving, look for the green tiled entrance and please ring the doorbell for admittance. Light refreshments with vegan options will be served at the reception, and leashed animals are welcome.

London, Ontario resides on the traditional territories of the Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak, Anishinaabek, and Chonnonton Nations, lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796, as well as the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum. London continues to be home to diverse Indigenous Peoples (First Nations, Métis and Inuit) whom Good Sport recognizes as contemporary stewards of the land and valued members of our society.

Good Sport Gallery & Studios
402.5 Richmond St., London, ON N6A 3C7
good-sport.ca
illbeagoodsport@gmail.com

reillyknowles.ca
Instagram @reilly_knowles

Accessibility:
Regrettably, Good Sport Gallery & Studios is reached by a flight of stairs and is not accessible. A washroom and seating are available.

Image descriptions
1. A detail photo of The Seer, an oil painting on panel by Reilly Knowles. At the centre top of the image is the pale, upside-down face of a girl with red eyes. Her turquoise braids frame a trio of white birds, who are flying against a red background. The centre bird has a large, red eye for a face.
2. A detail photo of One Last Burn, an oil painting on panel by Reilly Knowles. In the top left corner is a pink, fiery swirl, which at its centre features the profile of a woman’s face. Below and to the right is the upside-down face of a wrinkled old woman. Her yellow eyes are large and snake-like, and her mouth is open in a cry.