Self-taught sculptor, painter and printmaker, publisher and property developer, born in Exeter, Devon, educated at Kelly College, Tavistock, who after National Service, 1955–7, worked in industry and advertising, travelling extensively on the continent and in Africa. After a visit to New York in 1965, Knowles taught for a time at Bath Academy of Art, Corsham, living near Chudleigh, Devon. Knowles was part of Camden Arts Centre’s Survey ’67 Abstract Painters in 1967, work including the free-standing shapes which, he said, “remain paintings rather than sculpture in that the painted form works across the physical form rather than following it, as in most painted sculpture.” Arts Council acquired two such shapes: Bayaka, 1967, and Steel with Brown, Version I, of 1967–8.
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Mixed exhibitions also included John Moores Liverpool Exhibition of 1965. Solo exhibitions included Plymouth City Art Gallery, 1967. Knowles’ future as a major modern British abstract artist seemed assured until, in 1973, in mysterious circumstances, his uninsured studio caught fire, costing most of his finished work in progress and all his materials. What Knowles called “the silent time” began. After his 1973 show at Waddington Galleries, it would be 24 years before he exhibited again. In the intervening period Knowles taught in Exeter and turned his attention to various businesses, launching the publishing house Denys Ingram, which focused on collectible antique toys; became a book packager, including working with the Walt Disney Company; returned to Devon from London and launched the Flyfishers’ Classic Library; and pursued his hobby of big game-fishing, fishing for the English team in the 1994 World Cup in Mauritius. A chance visit by Patrick Heron and the art collector David Thomson sparked a return to art production, although during his “silent” period Knowles had secretly made almost 4,000 drawings. Visits to the Far East were influential and Knowles began producing spare and beautiful sculptures, superbly finished in a range of materials. He gained a series of awards and there were major commissions for Winchester Cathedral, 2001, and Exeter Cathedral, 2002. Later solo shows included City of Bath College, 2001, and Austin/Desmond Fine Art and Lemon Street Gallery, Truro, both 2002. In 2003, Michael Wood Fine Art, Plymouth, put on an exhibition in conjunction with the City Museum & Art Gallery there. Museum of Modern Art in Oxford, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and University of Warwick hold examples.
Text source: 'Artists in Britain Since 1945' by David Buckman (Art Dictionaries Ltd, part of Sansom & Company)
