From the earliest beginnings to the present day, strictly non-representational art has been the defining principle of Imi Knoebel's work and the way in which he challenges the classical concept of painting. Since his studies at the Düsseldorf Art Academy in the mid-1960s, where he was part of a circle of young artists around Joseph Beuys, he has explored a few fundamental questions. And above all, Knoebel found his distinctive style of expression under the influence of Kazimir Malevich, inspired by his essay “Suprematism—The Non-Objective World” (1927) and his revolutionary painting “The Black Square”.
Since then, the artist has dedicated various serial works to the interplay of space, form, and color, pursuing the compelling reduction of painting to its fundamental design principles. Most of Knoebel's compositions are based on basic geometric structures, particularly the rectangle. Starting with small-format shapes cut out of paper, the artist developed models he subsequently transformed into works, some of which are monumental. From 1977, after the death of his friend and artistic companion Blinky Palermo, color gained increasing importance and eventually became a central element of his radically conceptual, minimalist art. The diverse geometric building blocks from which Knoebel created his strictly non-representational works are permeated by a single color field, making color itself the driving force behind his compositions.
The present work, “APP 6” from 2013, combines these fundamental principles in a playful, lighthearted, and remarkable manner. The works from the “APP” series, created in the 2010s, like the “Kartoffelbilder” (Potato Pictures) series, also show conceptual parallels. The multifaceted “Kartoffelbilder” are composed of freely and irregularly layered profiles, oval shapes, triangles, and rectangles. In “APP 6,” Knoebel pushes this principle to the extreme with a deliberately vague geometric basic form, intersecting aluminum profiles, colorful rectangles, and another geometric form in bold red. This multi-layered relief evokes a strong sense of space. With its unusual, restless, and open body, it marks an extension of Knoebel's canon of forms and colors, creating a necessary counterpoint to the otherwise strict, geometric order of his works. In this respect, “APP 6” is to be understood as a remarkably consistent continuation of these principles, which are key to Imi Knoebel’s work, demonstrating once again why he is one of the most prominent representatives of German Minimal Art. [AW]