Imi Knoebel was born in Dessau in Germany in 1940. From 1962 to 1964, he studied applied arts at the Darmstadt School of Arts and Crafts. Between 1964 and 1971, he studied with Joseph Beuys at the Staatliche Kunstakademie, Düsseldorf. After practicing outline drawing, light projections, then paintings in white (1972–1975), he used colors for the first time in 1974. He started his rectangular painting series in 1975, using industrial rustproof painting. Subsequently, he juxtaposed bright and expressive color schemes on different supports such as wood or metal. Konstellationen is a large wall work that Knoebel composed of three monochrome groups. The different shapes and sizes make explicit multiple historical approaches to the pure objectivity of the image, and reference Malevich’s concept of the ‘zero point of painting’ through the use of monochromes. By playing with scale and color, he shows us the development of his practice through time. By exploring notions of reduction and abstraction, his work reveals the emotional and spiritual force of geometry. Beyond painting, the images produced become concrete objects of a pure aesthetic differentiation and perception.
