Savannah Knoop

Savannah Knoop (born 1981) is a New York City-based artist and filmmaker. From 1999 to 2005 Knoop performed the public role of literary persona JT Leroy.

Early life

Knoop grew up in the San Francisco Bay area, born to artist and acupuncturist Sharon Hennessey, and documentary filmmaker and cinematographer, John Knoop. Knoop was the youngest of five half siblings. From 1999 to 2001, Knoop attended City College of San Francisco.

Portrayal of JT LeRoy

In 1999 writer Laura Albert, partner of Knoop's brother at the time, asked Knoop to play her fictional personal JT LeRoy. Knoop embodied JT LeRoy in all public appearances for the next six years. After the literary scandal was unveiled in the NY Times in 2005, Knoop published the memoir in 2007 titled Girl Boy Girl: How I Became JT LeRoy cataloguing their experiences of playing their sister in law's writing persona and avatar JT LeRoy. With director Justin Kelly, they adapted it into a feature-length film starring Kristen Stewart, Laura Dern, Kelvin Harris Jr., Jim Sturgess, and Diane Kruger. The memoir was adapted into the film JT LeRoy released in theaters in April 2019 by Universal Pictures Content Group.

Career

In 2001, Knoop founded the clothing line Tinc with Parachati Pattajotti, creative partner, architect and restaurateur. In 2006, Knoop's sister Hennessey Knoop joined as head of sales for their company. Tinc ran until 2009 and sold to stores such as Modern Appealing Clothing and Takashimaya. After folding Tinc, Knoop moved to New York. They finished their bachelor's degree in the fall of 2013 at CUNYBA under the mentorship of Vito Acconci. In 2014 they went on to their MFA at Virginia Commonwealth University: Sculpture + Extended Media. Movement is an essential part of Knoop's practice. Knoop has studied dance and martial arts for over twenty years. Knoop studies Brazilian jiu-jitsu under the tutelage of Marcelo Garcia in New York.

Knoop, who identifies as gender non-conforming, has shown and performed at the Whitney, MoMA, the ICA Philadelphia, the Leslie-Lohman Museum, Movement Research, and Essex Flowers gallery. They have collaborated and performed live with artists such as Simone Forti, A.K. Burns, Math Bass and Lauren Davis Fisher, Gordon Hall, Geo Wyeth, Nica Ross, Jules Gimbrone, Niv Acosta, Elizabeth Orr, Robert Wilson, and Laura Albert. From 2010 to 2016 they threw the party, WOAHMONE, with Nica Ross and Nathann Carerra.

Selected works

• JT LeRoy (2019)
• Tripod Sweep (2019)
• SCREENS, a project about "community" (2019)
• Nosferatu on the Beach (2018)
• Heads and Tails (2016)

Collaborations

• Small Town Sex Shop (2015)
• WOAHMONE (2009-2016)