Imi Knoebel 5 Freigaben für Galerie Lethert

In his exhibition 5 Freigaben für Galerie Lethert, Düsseldorf-based artist Imi Knoebel presents paintings that take a radically non-representational and constructivist approach. Also on display are drawings and the edition »1000 Hasen«, 2021, published by Galerie Christian Lethert.

Besides hard fiber and wood, in the 1990s Imi Knoebel also started using aluminum as a painting surface for his works, which are always located somewhere between picture and sculpture. The title »Bild 29.11.2019 – 1 – 5« of the exhibited works from the series of date pictures refer to their day of composition. They each consist of two or three aluminum elements; however, these are not layered on top of each other as in earlier works, but rather exactly abut each other. Imi Knoebel has painted each element monochrome with acrylic paint, creating moments of tension as well as a painterly whole. Despite their dimensions, the geometric painting-objects seem to hover on the wall, like the paint, which does not soak into the subjectile, but is applied to the aluminum like a second layer, revealing a powerful painterly brushstroke.

The pure reduction to form and color also characterizes the drawings exhibited in the gallery’s basement. The works, created in 2004 and titled »Farben II und Z« are painted with acrylic on plastic film and set in aluminum frames.
The new edition »1000 Hasen«, 2021 is also part of the exhibition and encounters the viewer several times in the gallery. The rabbit, originally a found object made of sheet iron, is part of Imi Knoebel’s work complex »Eigentum Himmelreich«, dedicated to his friend Imi Giese, from 1983. The edition »1000 Hasen«, 2021 is made of sheet copper in water jet technique and hangs on a nail made of steel.

Imi Knoebel, born in 1940 in Dessau, studied at the Werkkunstschule Darmstadt before joining the class of Joseph Beuys at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in 1964, together with Imi Giese. He has participated at the documenta several times and his works are exhibited in museums worldwide: including 2018 at Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich, 2017 at Skulpturenpark Waldfrieden, Wuppertal, 2016 at Musée National Fernand Léger, Biot, France. In 2006, Imi Knoebel received an honorary doctorate from the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany; in 2011, he was awarded the Kythera Prize, and in 2016, he was named Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.