Dan Knowles of Paris is what many might refer to as a “Renaissance Man”.
He is a talented and decorated musician, a luthier, and a visual artist skilled in multiple disciplines.
Now, much of that art is on display for public viewing inside the Ballroom Gallery of The Dixie Carter Performing Arts Center.
Last Friday, November 14, Knowles and friends celebrated the opening of his exhibit, titled Modern Icons.
The admired his eclectic showcase consisting of various paintings, sculptures, and other oddities.
The public were also treated to a poem-reading by Knowles and a variety of live banjo and guitar music.
Mark Porter of Henry County admired the work on display.
“Dan’s one of those people who can do just about anything,” he said. “He’ll build an instrument, play it onstage, paint a mural, and then turn around and write a book. He’s got more talent than seems fair some times — and he’s still one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet.”
A woman who went by Sandy also praised Knowles’s work.
“I’ve never seen so many different, unique pieces in one place,” she said. “The longer you look at his work, the more you start noticing hidden things you didn’t catch at first.”
“It’s imaginative, it’s inventive,” she added. “I don’t even know if there’s a word that fully describes it.”
Knowles’s visual work is said to draw inspiration from the “surrealism of Salvador Dali, and the pointillism of Georges Seurat.”
Another attendee of the reception said he most enjoyed Knowles’s work that was more grounded in reality, such as the piece titled “Trees and Shadows”.
“When I look at art, I try to see beyond the surface. Dan’s work pulls you in like that,” he said. “You see the big picture first, but then you look closer and the structure reveals itself.”
The exhibit will be on display in The Dixie’s Ball room Gallery until Friday January 23, 2026.
The gallery is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Fri day in the second floor of The Dixie.
