b.1940, Dessau, Germany

Lives and works in Dusseldorf

Imi Knoebel’s minimalist hybrids of painting and sculpture explore relationships between color and structure. Knoebel studied under Joseph Beuys, but drew formative influence from Kasimir Malevich in his consistent return to the square and reductive use of color. While his early pieces were black and white, as in the series “Linienbildern” (Line Paintings) (1966-­69), he began to explore vibrant, saturated color in 1974 with his friend and classmate Blinky Palermo, to whom he would dedicate “24 Farben fü r Blinky” (“24 Colors for Blinky”) (1977), a series of brightly colored irregular shapes. Knoebel also worked in projection as a medium, though throughout these explorations he maintained his focus on the square and the grid as central elements.

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