IAN DAVE KNIFE ® Profile

IAN DAVE KNIFE ® was raised in Harare, the capitol city of Zimbabwe, where for millenia shona stone carvers and their ancestors have lived and died.Steeped in legends and traditions of an ancient culture, contemporary shona sculpture is a profound Expression of the human condition transcending Geography and time. A BEGINNING... In Harare Ian was surrounded by both ancient tributes to artisians of the past as well as an influx of cottage industry "airport art".As a youth at age of seven and a half he created himself an artisian, drawing and painting using abstract lines and exploring shapes.He began carving ornate wooden walking sticks that spoke of a river god "NYAMINYAMI" and tribal lore.At the same time Ian was selling the works of other local artists at a market in Bulawayo city hall, but found vending the mass produced objects meaningless. The stone was not being "heard".Returning back to Shona spirit and traditions of carving, Ian felt he could bring more out of the stone. COLLECTING HIS OWN STONE... Dragging it from local mountains and dried up river beds was part of Ian's process.He found golden serpintine , rich bloodstone, opal ,and the very hard springstone. He wedged crudely formed teeth from a removable/disposable blade into a tool much like a wood carvers adze on the end of a hammer... with which Ian hacked away at his first piece of black serpintine. Ian continued to focus on "the voice within the stone" and listened "A playfull,"naughtier- than- nice" figure emerged, involving a lusty rendering of animal and man who had been caught in the act of embracing life and it's fruits. The feet and legs of this character are firmly planted in the ground, braced and muscle bound,exploding with enrgy. FILLED WITH THIS ENERGY... Ian and his biomorphic serpintine character the National Art Gallery in Bulawayo and propossed to show there.This led to his inclussion in a reputable show for emerging artists in 1989 entittled "namthla leco sasa":Today and Tommorows: young artists of Zimbabwe".Ian continued to listen to the stone and carved a wealth of sculptures till this day Ian can still be seen in his Taos New Mexico studio working away on a new peice SELECTED EXHIBITIONS ; NATIONAL ART GALLERY OF ZIMBABWE,HARARE 1989,1990,1992 NATIONAL ART GALLERY OF ZIMBABWE ,BULAWAYO 1992,1993,1994,1995 AND 1996 GALLERY DELTA, HARARE 1997,1998 MUTOMBO GALLERY, HARARE, 1996,1998 FLORIDA SOUTHERN COLLEGE,USA, 1996 MASAI MARA GALLERY, EDINBOURGH, SCOTLAND, 1998,1999 WHITELYS MALL ,LONDON, 1998 ART CITY GALLERY, VENTURA CALIFORNIA, 2000,2001 STEP ONE A GALLERY, CAPENTARIA CALIFORNIA, 2001 SHONA SOL, SANTA FE NM,2003,2004, 2005, 2006 , 2007 WALDEN FINE ARTS, TAOS NM, 2003,2004, 2005 SANTA FE INTERNATIONAL FOLK ARTS MUSEUM NM, 2004, SEPTEMBER 24 2004 BEST IN SHOW TAOS OPEN FALL ARTS FESTIVAL, NM ,2005 walden ffine art group show , 2005 shona sol in Santa fe, 2005 solo show in Carpenteria Ca, 2005 Taos fall arts festival,2006 two man show Grand opening of the Ian D Knife studio ,gallery and sculpture garden, 2006 solo show at the Ian D Knife gallery in Taos New Mexico,2006 group show in Lovelaand Colorado, 2006 Taos fall arts festival, 2007 sol show at the Ian Knife gallery, august 2007 group show to raise funds for the Lost boys of Sudan at the Taos golf course, Ian also has recieved numerous awards for his work and he also has works in the perminat collection of Mrs Anne R Worrell's wildlife museum in Virginia AKA "THE WORRELL COLLECTION" and in the international museum of folk arts in Santa Fe. Ian also has many works in private collections arround the world. Today Ian continues to produce the finest stone sculptures in the world from his Taos New Mexico studio, working with Persian travetines, marble, basalt granite,limestone and springstone imported or locally quarried in the states.

1-575-770-9884 or ianknife@hotmail.com