Our first exhibition in the new rooms for contemporary art at Fasanenstraße 27 is dedicated to Imi Knoebel's early work: the line paintings created between 1966 and 1968.
Imi Knoebel, born Wolf Knoebel in Dessau in 1940, went to the Academy in Düsseldorf in 1964 to study under Joseph Beuys. In 1965, together with Imi Giese, he moved into the now legendary Room 19 at the academy. With his minimalist line paintings, he deliberately opposed his charismatic teacher's approach to art.
Inspired by Malevich's Black Square and the American Minimal Art of Donald Judd, Knoebel chose the rectangle as his format and reduced painting to its basic elements of line, surface and the fundamental contrast of black and white. In relation to the line paintings, the artist described himself as a "seeker after the beginning", who has nothing but "the certainty of the pure square at a right angle".
Both the perfection of the line paintings and the examination of the painting already reveal the flawlessness of Knoebel's later works and the ongoing exploration of the medium. With their non-colours, the line paintings are among the most radical that Imi Knoebel has created and are also groundbreaking for later generations of artists.
We are delighted to be able to show six line paintings in this sales exhibition. They mark a first highlight in Imi Knoebel's oeuvre and can be seen in Berlin for the first time.
The exhibition will subsequently be on display at our Düsseldorf representative office from 10 April to 15 May.
Daniel von Schacky