Cosima zu Knyphausen

Cosima zu Knyphausen (born 1988) is a German artist. Her works seem to tap into the sacred space between the intimate and the historic. In her paintings she challenges the depiction and reception of iconic motifs, illuminating specifically the conventions around representation of women in (art-)history. Often departing from literary or artistic references, her motifs depict an alternative history of female artistry, acknowledging its rich yet muted legacy. Highlighting the entanglement of creation and desire, she repeatedly engages with queer or female spaces: from depictions of gay bars, settings in the artists own studio, mediations on the muse, all the way to illuminations from Christine de Pizan's literary utopia The City of Ladies. With an exquisite employment of colour, hazy brushstrokes only just hint at figuration as objects like nails, staples or eggshells occasionally find their way onto the canvas—a welcome disruption as to contrast the tenderness of the motifs, accentuating the bold utterance of zu Knyphausen's work.