EDUCATION
2015 Master of Fine Arts, University of California, Riverside
2007 Bachelor of Fine Arts, San Francisco Art Institute
GRANTS, AWARDS, HONORS
Guggenheim Fellowship, United States, 2023-4
The Silver List, Carnegie Melon University & The Silver Eye Center for Photography, 2021
Light Work Photo Book Award, Syracuse, NY, 2020
Emerging Artist Grant, Rema Hort Mann Foundation, Los Angeles, 2020
Aperture Portfolio Prize, Aperture Foundation, New York, NY, 2019
Fulbright Scholar, Helsinki, Finland, 2008-9
RESIDENCIES
2019 Light Work, Syracuse, NY
2017 Storm King Art Center / Shandaken Projects, New York, NY
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Decreation, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, 2024-5
Posthume (with James Ensor), La Maison de Rendez-Vous, Brussels, Belgium, 2023
Posthume, Paul Soto, Los Angeles, CA, 2023
Kiss of the Sun, Kendall Koppe, Glasgow, Scotland, 2022
Hunger for the Absolute, Klaus von Nichtssagend, New York, NY, 2021
Hunger for the Absolute, Park View / Paul Soto, Los Angeles, CA, 2021
in this temporarily prevailing landscape, Klaus von Nichtssagend, New York, NY, 2020
Aperture Portfolio Prize, Aperture Foundation, New York, NY, 2019
Turn Into, James Harris Gallery, Seattle, WA, 2018
if water forgets how to play mirror, QUEENS, Los Angeles, CA, 2018
Objects & Actions of Consequence, Culver Art Center, Riverside, CA, 2015
He’s Time. I’m Just a Clock., Strongroom (The Woman’s Building), Los Angeles, CA, 2015
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS *denotes two or three person exhibition
Widening the Lens: Photography, Ecology, and the Contemporary Landscape, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ, 2025
Widening the Lens: Photography, Ecology, and the Contemporary Landscape, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA, 2024
Greener than Grass and Almost Dead, Klaus von Nichtssagend, New York, NY, 2024
In flames, Paul Soto, New York, NY, 2024
Finding Aid (Curated by Matt Connors), Goldsmiths, London, UK, 2024
Mark McKnight & Maria Antelman, Outer Space, Bedford, NH, 2023
This Long Century, Dunes, Portland, ME, 2023
Light Work, Everson Museum, Syracuse, NY, 2023
; (Organized by Mark McKnight), Vielmetter, Los Angeles, CA, 2022
Hot Concrete, K11 Musea, Hong Kong, 2022
Dewdrops in the Garden, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA, 2022
Aqux, The Mistake Room, Los Angeles, CA, 2022
87 Franklin Inagural, Klaus von Nichtssagend, New York, NY, 2022
Perris, Tyler Park Presents, Los Angeles, CA, 2022
Garage Sale II, Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA, 2022
Queer Moments, Lightwork, Syracuse, NY, 2021
Working from Home: New Commissions, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tucson, AZ, 2020
Hold on Tight, Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, CA, 2020
A Time for Monsters, Fort Gansevoort, New York, NY, 2020
*Voidpull, Koppe Astner, Glasgow, Scotland, 2020
*Shadow & Shadow of Shadow, Roger’s Office, Los Angeles, CA, 2019
The Procession, VACATION, New York, NY, 2019
Automatic Door, Park View / Paul Soto, Los Angeles, 2019
20 / 20, James Harris Gallery, Seattle, 2019
Close to Home, Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, CA, 2019
Defining Photographs and Radical Experiments in Inland Southern California, 1945 to Present, California Museum of Photography & Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA, 2019
Monotasking, Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, CA 2018
A Spaghetti Dress for world Peace, Park View / Paul Soto, Los Angeles, CA, 2017
Facing, BBQLA, Los Angeles, CA, 2017
La Mesa Brutal, Arturo Bandini, Los Angeles, CA, 2017
The Upper Deep, Open House, Los Angeles, CA, 2016
9-11, Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA, 2016
Russian Doll, M+B, Los Angeles, CA, 2015
Surface of Color, The Pit, Los Angeles, CA, 2015
20/20 Vision: An International Photography Biennial, Christophe Guye (Selection of Grupa o.k.), Zurich, Switzlerland, 2015
The Year of the Goose, Either Way, Los Angeles, CA, 2015
Dressed in Gray, Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 2013
Greater Los Angeles MFA, Cal State Long Beach, Long Beach, CA, 2013
California Continued: New Approaches in West Coast Photography, Smith Andersen North, San Rafael, CA, 2011
Gray Day, Roberts & Tilton, Los Angeles, CA, 2010
The Informers, J-MoCA, Los Angeles, CA 2010
The Lightbearers, POST Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2010
10 x 10 x 10, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA, 2009
Involved, Socially, Triple Base, San Francisco, CA, 2009
Young Curators, New Ideas, Bond Street Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2008
Various Photographs, Curated by Tim Barber, The New York Photo Festival, New York, NY, 2008
TinyVices, White Flag Projects, St. Louis, MO, 2007
TinyVices, La Esquina, Kansas City, MO, 2007
ART FAIR PRESENTATIONS
Frieze Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, Paul Soto Gallery Presents Mark Armijo McKnight & Kate Spencer Stewart, February 16 - 19, 2023.
Frieze London, London, UK, Kendall Koppe Gallery, October 12 - 16, 2022.
Frieze London, London, UK, Kendall Koppe Gallery, October 13 - 17, 2021.
David Zwirner Platform, New York, NY, Paul Soto Presents Mark Armijo McKnight, June 18 – July 18, 2021.
Frieze London, London, UK, Koppe Astner Gallery October 7 - 16, 2020.
Paris Internationale, Paris, France, Paul Soto Gallery, October 16 - 20, 2019.
Seattle Art Fair, Seattle, WA, James Harris Gallery, August 2 - 5, 2018.
MONOGRAPHS
Posthume, Oakland, CA: TBW Books, 2025
Heaven is a Prison, Marseilles, France: Loose Joints, 2020
OTHER BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, PUBLICATIONS, ZINES
A Queer History of Photography, London, England: Thames and Hudson, 2024
Mark McKnight and John Keene, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY: Image Text Press, 2023
Responses to Forbidden Colours (1988) by Felix Gonzales-Torres, London, UK: Pilot Press, 2023
Situating Queer in Photography, New York, NY: Routledge, 2023
The Debris of an Unknown Celebration, Tucson, AZ: Museum of Contemporary Art, Tucson, 2021
Photo No-Nos, New York, NY: Aperture, 2021
Humans, New York, NY: Abrams, 2021
Primal Sight, Brooklyn, NY: Gnomic Books, 2021
Contact Sheet Annual 2020, Syracuse, NY: Light Work, 2020
New Queer Photography, Dortmund, Germany: Verlag Kettler, 2020
Aperture Magazine #236, New York, NY: Aperture Foundation, September 2019
In the Sunshine of Neglect: Defining Photographs & Radical Experiments in Inland Southern California 1950 - Present, Riverside, CA: Inlandia Institute, 2019
NOUNS, Los Angeles, CA: Bread & Butter, 2017
Pescador, Paul. Surface of Color, Los Angeles, CA: The Pit, 2015.
Myers-Szupinska, Julian & Szupinska-Myers, Joanna. 20/20 (Exhibition Catalog), Zurich, Switzlerland: Sturm & Drang, 2015.
Smoke Bath, New York, NY: Seems Books, 2010
Icons & Allegories, Los Angeles, CA: Bread & Butter Books, 2010
Involved, Socially, San Francisco, CA: Triple Base, 2009
Various Photographs, New York, NY: TV Books, 2008
Vol. 1, Remain in Light, Cambridge, MA: Lay Flat, 2008
COLLECTIONS
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA
The Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
LightWork, Syracuse, NY
SoHo House, Los Angeles, CA
PODCASTS, VIDEO INTERVIEWS
Velasquez, Lito. Liontas, Annie, hosts. “LitFriends: Mark Armijo McKnight and Garth Greenwell” August 4, 2024, produced by Lit Friends, Podcast.
Williams, Venus, host. “Episode 4” June 26, 2024, Widening the Lens: Photography, Ecology, and the Contemporary Landscape, produced by Carnegie Museum of Art, Podcast.
Feuerhelm, Brad, host. “Episode 100: Mark McKnight.” October 2020, Nearest Truth, audio, 1 hour and 33 minutes.
Aperture. “Mark McKnight’s Photographs Celebrate Queer Desire and Embrace Contradiction,” YouTube video, 2 minutes and 40 seconds, January 7, 2020.
Weitzman, Jordan, host. “Episode 29: Mark McKnight.” April, 2019, The Magic Hour: Conversations on Photography, audio, 43 minutes.
Adams, Thomas, host. “Episode 19: Mark McKnight.” July 1, 2018, Art Traffic, audio, 58 minutes.
CURATORIAL PROJECTS
Greener Than Grass and Almost Dead, Curated by Mark Armijo McKnight, Klaus von Nichtssagend, New York, NY, 2024.
;, Curated by Mark McKnight, Vielmetter, Los Angeles, CA, 2023.
Flash! Whitney Hubbs, Curated by Mark McKnight, The California Museum of Photography, Riverside, CA, 2015.
Icons & Allegories, Sight School, Oakland, CA, 2010.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fateman, Johanna. Lee, Sophie. “Here’s Everything You Need to be Paying Attention to This November, According to Our Editors,” Cultured Magazine, November 4, 2024.
Tran, Jacinda. “Mark Armijo McKnight’s Black Sky Thinking,” ArtReview, October 28, 2024.
Spencer, Connor. “Mark Armijo McKnight: Decreation,” Esse, October 25, 2024.
Schulman, Miller. “Decreation and Desire: Miller Schulman on Mark Armijo McKnight at The Whitney Museum of American Art,” Texte Zur Kunst, October 4, 2024.
Herriman, Kat. “The Must-See Art Shows and Exhibitions of 2024,” W Magazine, October 3, 2024.
Ritter, Zach. “ArtSeen: Mark Armijo McKnight, Decreation.” The Brooklyn Rail, October 2, 2024.
Fateman, Johanna. “Mark Armijo McKnight.” 4Columns, September 20, 2024.
Aletti, Vince. “Goings On About Town: Mark Armijo McKnight at The Whitney Museum of American Art,” The New Yorker, September 9, 2024.
Yerebakan, Osman Can. “Mark Armijo McKnight’s bodily landscapes capture the serenity of the American West,” Wallpaper Magazine, September 7, 2024.
Dorris, Jesse. “5 Exhibitions to Visit During the Armory Show,” Frieze, September 6, 2024.
Sawyer, Drew. “Mark Armijo McKnight’s ‘Decreation’ Undoes the Self,” Document Journal, September 5, 2024.
Greenwell, Garth. “Hot Death Summer,” Substack: To A Green Thought, August 27, 2024.
Clayton, Zorian. Caston, Lydia. Kaluznick, Hana. Calling the Shots: A Queer History of Photography. London, UK: Thames & Hudson, 2024.
Dunston, Flora. Gordon, Theo. Photography: A Queer History. Hachette, UK: Ilex Press, 2024.
Leers, Dan. Widening the Lens: Photography, Ecology, and the Contemporary Landscape. Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Museum of Art, 2024.
Fliti, Gwenaelle. “Je cherche à diversifier la méthodologie queer dans la photographie.” Fisheye Magazine, June 2024.
Staff. “Venus Williams Hosts Carnegie Museum’s New Podcast on Art and Environment.” Artnet, May 3 2024.
Denman, Tom. “Matt Connors Plays a Game of Forms at Goldsmiths CCA.” Ocula Magazine, March 2024.
Armijo McKnight, Mark. Antelman, Maria. “Photographs that Occupy a Space Between Sculpture and Film.”BOMB, January 2024.
Keene, John. Blind Dates and Reunions. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, Image Text, 2023.
Campbell, Andy. Track Changes. New York, NY: n+1, 2023
Bullock, Michael. McKnight, Mark. Salandra, Sal. Iron Halo. Brooklyn, NY: Blurring Books, 2023.
Johanneson, Asa. Situating Queer in Photography. New York, NY: Routledge, 2023.
Fantasia, Louis. O’Brien, Kean. Maritescu, Corina. Playing Shakespeare’s Beautiful People, New York, NY: Peter Lang Verlag, 2023.
Preston Zappas, Lindsey. “Mark Armijo McKnight at Paul Soto,” KCRW Art Insider, June 2023.
Editors. “Must See: Mark McKnight at Paul Soto.” Art Forum, May 28, 2023. http://www.artforum.com
Intrabartola, Lisa. “Two Rutgers Professors Named Guggenheim Fellows.” Rutgers Today, April 2023.
Red, Cameron. “The Cemetery Illuminates.” The Conversation Pit, November 2023.
Veitch, Mara. “Frieze Los Angeles Announces Its Biggest Program Yet.” Cultured Magazine, February 2023.
Vankin, Deborah. “Everything you need to know about L.A.’s February 2023 Art Fair Extravaganza.” Los Angeles Times, February 2023.
Moffitt, Evan. “On Fire Island, a Home for Art – and the Artists Who Make it.” The New York Times Style Magazine, August 2023.
Khan, Lucy. “The Feminist Curse.” Petit Mort, July, 2023.
Gipe, Lawrence. Marshall, Douglas. The Intimacy of Distance. Los Angeles, CA: Marshall Gallery, 2022.
Naci, Silvi. “Mark McKnight and Paul Sepuya in Conversation.” Hunter Fashion Magazine, April 2022.
Greenwell, Garth. Purezza (Cover). Italy: Giulio Einaudi Editore, 2022.
Greenwell, Garth. Reinheit (Cover). Germany: Claassen, 2022.
Dinsdale, Emily. “Love, Lust, and Emancipation…” Dazed Digital, February 2022.
Carroll, Henry. Humans: Photographs that Make you Think, New York, NY: Abrams Books, 2021.
McKnight, Mark. “Favorite Book from 2021: Pacifico Silano.” Photo Eye, November 2021, https://www.photoeye.com
Zelony-Mindell, Efrem. Primal Sight, New York: Gnomic Book, 2021.
Stalnaker, Liberty. “Prolific LA Photographer Returns to Roots at UNM Photo Department.” Daily Lobo, April 2021.
Campbell, Andy. “Mark McKnight at Park View/Paul Soto.” ArtForum, NY, June 2021.
Akers, Tyler. “Mark McKnight.” Gay Letter, New York, NY, June 2021.
Suzuki, Emika. “Between the Legs: Photography as Ars Erotica.” Musee Magazine, September 2021.
McKnight, Mark. “No. 459.” This Long Century, September, 2021, http://www.thislongcentury.com
Berardini, Andrew. “Captured and Released: Mark McKnight.” Mousse, April 2021.
Staff. “Mark McKnight at Park View/Paul Soto.” Contemporary Art Writing Daily, April 2021.
O’Leary, Erin F. “Snap Review: Mark McKnight at Park View / Paul Soto.” Contemporary Art Review LA (CARLA), April 2021.
Ritter, Zach. “Mark McKnight, Hunger for the Absolute.” Brooklyn Rail, March 2021.
Warwick, Steven. “Liberating the Taxonomic: Mark McKnight Reviewed by Steven Warwick.” BOMB, March 2021.
Hadland, Gracie. “Mark McKnight Photographs Hardcore Vistas, Hunger for the Absolute Reviewed.” Frieze,March 2021.
Knight, Christopher. “Review: Landscape and Body in Sensuous Shadow: The Photos of Mark McKnight.”, Los Angeles Times, March 2021.
Diner, Eli. “Five Los Angeles Shows to See this Month.” Cultured Magazine, March 2021.
Staff. “Top 5 Shows to See in the US and Canada.” Frieze, March 2021.
Kwon, R.O., Greenwell, Garth. “On Taking Kink Seriously: A Reading List.” Literary Hub, February 2021.
Fulford, Jason et al. Photo No-No’s. New York, NY: Aperture Books, 2021.
Shinkle, Eugenie. “Heaven is a Prison: Mark McKnight.” 1000 Words Magazine, January 2021.
Staff. “The Best Photo Stories of 2020...” AnOther Magazine, December 2020.
Wolbergs, Benjamin. New Queer Photography. Dortmund, Germany: Verlag Kettler, 2020.
Greenwell, Garth. Cleanness (Cover). New York, NY: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 2020.
Greenwell, Garth. Cleanness (Cover). London, UK: MacMillan, 2020.
Staff. “Sex, Sand, and Seduction: Ten Photo Books to Buy This Month.” AnOther Magazine, November 2020.
Park, Frederika. “Mark McKnight: Objects, Landscapes, Queer Bodies.” Metal Magazine, October 2020.
Dorris, Jesse. “Heaven is a Prison: Jesse Dorris on Mark McKnight.” Aperture: PhotoBook Review, October 2020.
Campion, Darren. “Mark McKnight: Heaven is a Prison.” Paper Journal, October 2020.
Staff. “Heaven is a Prison, Mark McKnight.” Tank Magazine, October 2020.
Zhengova, Linda. “Mark McKnight: Heaven is a Prison.” Gup Magazine, October 2020.
Greenwell, Garth. “The Pornographic High Art of Photographer Mark McKnight.” GQ Magazine, September 2020.
Benson, Louise. “These are the Essential Art Books You Need to Know Right Now.” Elephant Magazine, September 2020.
Yerebakan, Osman Can. “Inside a Sensual New Photo Book Capturing Lovers in the California Desert.” AnOther Magazine, September 2020.
Abel-Hirsch, Hannah. “Sex as Meaning-making in the work of Mark McKnight.” British Journal of Photography, September 2020.
White, Ryan. “A Queer Photographer Explores the Pain and Euphoria of Sex.” i-D Magazine, September 2020.
Greenwell, Garth. “Cleanness Author Garth Greenwell Interviews Mark McKnight About His Daring, Dirty Pictures.” Interview Magazine, September 2020.
Wiley, Chris. “Mark McKnight and the Bodies That Modernist Photography Didn’t See.” The New Yorker,June 2020.
Editors. “ARTnews in Brief… May 11, 2020.” ARTnews. May 2020.
Yáñez, Marcelo Gabriel. “Mark McKnight.” Lightwork: Contact Sheet, September 2020.
Hance McElroy, Nich. “Mark McKnight.” BOMB, March 2020.
Tafoya, Harry. “Review: Mark McKnight Turns Queer Bodies Into Abstract Landscapes.” Art in America, March 2020.
Zelony-Mindell, Efrem. “Mark McKnight: Concrete as Surely as Flesh.” Humble Arts Foundation, February 2020.
Jean, Ciara. “MOCA’s first pandemic-era in-house exhibition looks at life in a COVID bubble.” Arizona Daily Star, October 2020.
Editors. “Must See: Mark McKnight at Klaus von Nichtssagend.” Art Forum, January 10, 2020. http://www.artforum.com
Greenwell, Garth. “Spotlight: Mark McKnight.” Aperture, September 2019.
Luquet-Gad, Ingrid. Derhee, Aurélie. “Mark McKnight fait corps avec la nature.” Les Inrockuptibles, July 2019.
Embser, Brendan. “2019 Portfolio Prize Winner: Mark McKnight.” Aperture, April 2019.
Weber, Jasmine. “Art Movements: Accolades.” HyperAllergic. April 2019.
Staff. “Highlights from Paris Internationale: Mark McKnight at Park View / Paul Soto.” Purple Fashion Magazine, October 2019.
Miranda, Carolina. “Datebook: An Artistic Space Station, Experimental Sound, and Riotous Pattern.” Los Angeles Times, January 2019.
McCullough, Douglas. In the Sunshine of Neglect: Defining Photographs & Radical Experiments in Inland Southern California 1945 – Present. Riverside, CA: Inlandia Institute, 2019.
Feinstein, Jon. “Review: Mark McKnight at James Harris Gallery.” Photograph Magazine, December 2018.
Feinstein, Jon. “Photography Highlights…Seattle Art Fair.” Humble Arts Foundation, August 2018.
Staff. “Mark McKnight: Turn Into, Paul Berger: Multiplex, and more.” City Arts Magazine, Seattle, 2018.
Ahn, Abe. “Forging Queer Identity with Abstraction.” HyperAllergic. October 2015.
Grupa OK. 20 / 20 Vision. Zurich, Switzlerland: Sturm & Drang, 2015.
Staff. “Artists Meld Life and Art.” SFGate, August 2009.
Barber, Tim. Various Photographs. New York, NY: TV Books, 2008.
Lavelette, Shane. Vol. 1, Remain in Light, Cambridge, MA: Lay Flat, 2008.