Rot-Weiss Nr. 2, 3, 10, 16, 19

Material

Acrylic on wood; each 250 x 170 cm

Dating

1991

About the artist

From 1964 to 1971, the German artist studied under Joseph Beuys at the Düsseldorfer Kunstakademie. Till 1970 Imi Knoebel exhibited together with Rainer Giese, also a student of Beuys, under the name of IMI + IMI. Inspired by Russian Constructivism and Suprematism Imi Knoebel explored the dialectics of image and space, i.e. material, colour and space. His interest in this matter emerged in 1968, when Knoebel monumentally enlarged Malevich’s ‘Black Cross’ and let it float on a wall. The artist uses his paintings, which are made of wooden boards and monochrome wood pieces, to ponder on aspects of two- and three-dimensionality, combining Constructivist principles and contingency in the process. As a result, Knoebel began to produce expressive gestural drawings and material assemblages, in which he continuously analysed the relationship between strict and loose forms, as well as monochrome and diffuse materials.