From Left to Right​: Knowledge Bennett, ​Nixon’s War on Drugs (War On Blacks),Reagan Knew Everything (Crack Killed),
Clinton’s Cruel & Unusual Punishment (Mass Incarceration), 2016 
Acrylic and Silkscreen Painting on Canvas 96” x 72” x 2.5” (ea.)
Images courtesy of the The KNOW Contemporary.

“I’ve always thought it to be the responsibility of the artist to help restore a degree of dignity, integrity and sense of humanity.
At the core of my work is the hope to engage, enlighten and inspire. My use of visual imagery for the purpose of reshaping
perception and narrative is of the utmost priority.”​ - ​Knowledge Bennett

Knowledge Bennett: In Retrospect

A Look Back While Moving Forward
The KNOW Contemporary is set to open in Los Angeles on April 28, 2018 featuring a collection of works by L.A.
based artist Knowledge Bennett.

The inaugural exhibition at the KNOW Contemporary will span both floors of the gallery’s 4,500 sq ft space. ​Knowledge
Bennett: In Retrospect (A Look Back While Moving Forward)​, an assembly of paintings emanating from some of the artist’s
most provocative series. This ensemble represents a display of Bennett’s vision of the way cultural experiences shape views
of the public consensus. Dispersed among two galleries within the space, Bennett examines these experiences through
towering work that allows the viewer to immerse themselves in the detail displayed on canvas.

Making its Los Angeles debut, Bennett’s ​“​Orange Is The New Black​”​ explores, in a comprehensive way, the ongoing
systematic disruption of the black community via political and institutional corruption. Consisting of six large scale uniquely
hand painted and hand pulled silk screen paintings, this series takes the viewer on a chronological journey through almost a
century of atrocities experienced by the black community at the hands of such entities as the U.S. Public Health Service,

The KNOW Contemporary | T. +1.213.395.0931 | 422 S. Alameda Street | ​www.TheKNOWContemporary.com  

  
Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I), three former Presidential administrations (Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Bill
Clinton) and the New York Police Department (N.Y.P.D.). This work will be on view in the lower gallery.

The upper gallery will feature works from five of Bennett’s earlier series which delve deeper into his use of “Americana”
through media and representation. Included in this display are ​Obama Cowboy (Six Shooter), Good Girl Gone Bad (Marilyn
Monroe), Share A Coke (Coke Bottle), Mao Trump,​ and the critically acclaimed ​Cojones​ series featuring pioneers of art
history like Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat among others. Bennett’s utilization of pop art and its familiarity to
encourage serious matters of discussion, has been an instrumental component within his practice. Exercising the familiar,
while also inviting the viewer to engage in enriched discourse, Bennett has been able to distinguish his use of the medium
from that of his contemporaries, centering his message around history, politics, race relations and the public’s consumption
of popular culture. ​The public opening will be held April 28th, 2018 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Knowledge Bennett, born December 5, 1976, is a self-taught visual artist currently based in Los Angeles, California. Fueled
by his own entrepreneurial record of success in various industries, Knowledge has trained his artistic talent through work in
commercial photography and fine art studio practices. Influenced by the rich history of various Post-War American art
movements, Knowledge’s work displays a purposeful familiarity yet possesses a deeper and more meaningful conceptual
understanding. Immersed in modes of mechanical reproduction, he creates artworks that play to a sociological
understanding of political and ideological tensions that resonate in today's world.

Stay updated with The KNOW Contemporary on Instagram ​(@TheKNOWContemporary)​ and via the hashtags
#KnowledgeBennett and #TheKNOWContemporary. Also follow us on ARTSY at
https://www.artsy.net/the-know-contemporary.

For further information please contact the gallery at info@TheKNOWContemporary.com or at ​+1.213.395.0931​. All images
are subject to copyright. Gallery approval must be granted prior to reproduction.

Knowledge Bennett, ​Cojones (Warhol, Basquiat, Dali (Silver)), 2017 

Acrylic and Silkscreen Painting on Canvas. 84” x 48” x 2.0” (ea.)
Images courtesy of the artist.

The KNOW Contemporary | T. +1.213.395.0931 | 422 S. Alameda Street | ​www.TheKNOWContemporary.com