Imi Knoebel
Imi Knoebel’s minimalist hybrids of painting and sculpture explore relationships between color and structure. Knoebel’s nonrepresentational works innovate on the modernist ideas and styles of Joseph Beuys, Kasimir Malevich, and the Bauhaus.
The artist is interested in seriality, spare geometries, reductive color, and the use of industrial materials such as Masonite. Knoebel studied under Beuys at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and under László Moholy-Nagy at the Werkkunstschule Darmstadt; he has exhibited in Berlin, New York, Paris, Zürich, Tokyo, London, Vienna, and Rome. His work belongs in the collections of the Essl Museum, the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, the Museo Reina Sofía, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museum of Modern Art. While Knoebel is best known for his sculptural paintings, his practice also involves drawing, photography, projections, and installation. His work has sold for six figures at auction.
Solo show at a major institution:
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, K21 Standehaus, Dia:Chelsea, Dia:Beacon, Hamburger Bahnhof, Neue Nationalgalerie.
Group show at a major institution:
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Centre Pompidou, K20 Grabbeplatz, K21 Standehaus, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), Hammer Museum, Hamburger Bahnhof, MCA Chicago.
Collected by a major institution:
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
Reviewed by a major art publication:
Artforum, frieze, Art in America.
Included in a major biennial:
Venice Biennale International Exhibition, documenta.