Imi Knoebel's resolutely abstract art investigates the fundamentals of painting and sculpture through an exploration of form, colour and material. His aim is to uncover the basic material elements of art, which he locates in the simple interactions between humans and the essential conditions of our world. He remains true to the tradition of non-representational art, following in the footsteps of artists such as Kazimir Malevich or Piet Mondrian. The artist cites his discovery of Malevich's Black Square (1915) as a watershed moment that liberated his conception of painting, giving him 'the overwhelming feeling that I could start at nothing'. He has developed an experimental approach and serial way of working, characterised by a haptic use of colour, geometric vocabulary of forms and material simplicity.

Born Klaus Wolf Knoebel in Dessau in 1940, he attended the Werkkunstschule Darmstadt in 1962, enrolling in a course taught by professors Johannes Itten and László Moholy-Nagy. It was there that he met fellow student Rainer Griese, who was similarly enamoured with the work of Malevich, and the pair became known as Imi & Imi, a shortened version of 'Ich mit Ihm' ('I with him'). It was also the name of an East German washing detergent, giving their radical self-branding an ironic twist. They convinced Joseph Beuys to accept them as students at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and Beuys gave them the keys to Room 19, a studio adjacent to his legendary classroom in Room 20. It was in this space that Knoebel produced his defining early work, Raum 19 (1968), a modular structure composed of geometric shapes in unpainted Masonite, an unassuming industrial material that he has used throughout his career.

text source: Thaddaeus Ropac

“Once […] we wanted to replace the dove of peace with a new symbol of peace. So we will hereby make the rabbit a symbol of peace […] I think it is a cheerful animal that speaks to the human soul and is known by every child.” Quote Joseph Beuys after he melted down a replica of the crown of the Tsar Ivan the Terrible and cast a rabbit from it.

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 studio view of Eigentum Himmelreich from 1983 shows the rabbit hanging freely on the wall. In the same year, the work was presented for the first time at the Galerie Schoof in Frankfurt a.M. and in 1984 at Le Consortium in Dijon, where the rabbit could be discovered lying on a wall ledge. Further exhibitions followed at the Musée Municipal in La-Roche-sur Yon, in 1985 and in 1992 at the Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, which purchased Eigentum Himmelreich for the museum collection. In the large survey exhibition in 2014 at the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Eigentum Himmelreich was shown in the first floor cabinets overlooking the Japanese Garden. The rabbit was found here only at second glance, hidden behind the cabinet.

text source: Galerie Christian Lethert

Solo Exhibitions

2022

Imi Knoebel, Sammlung Goetz, Munich, Germany

Imi Knoebel: love child, Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria

2021

Mennigebilder and Mennigeskulpturen, Dia Beacon, Beacon, NY, USA

5 Freigaben für Galerie Lethert, Christian Lethert Gallery, Cologne, Germany

Standing Paintings, Galerie von Bartha, S-chanf, Switzerland

Painting Color Space, Dep Art Gallery, Milan, Italy

1000 Hasen, Nino Mier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Standing Paintings, Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt, Germany

2020

Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz, Liechtenstein

Recent Works, White Cube, London, UK

und was machst du, Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt, Germany

Centrum, Galerie von Bartha, Basel, Switzerland

2019

Recent Works, Patrick de Brock Gallery, Knokke-Heist, Belgium

Imi Knoebel: Big Girl and Friends, Leeahn Gallery, Seoul, South Korea

Works from the Seventies, Nino Mier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA

was machen Sie denn, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France

Dass die Geschichte zusammenbleibt, Kewenig Galerie, Berlin, Germany

Imi Knoebel – Works from Private Collections, Schacky, Düsseldorf, Germany

Tafelbilder, Jahn und Jahn, Munich, Germany

2018

Christian Lethert Gallery, Cologne, Germany

Imi Knoebel: Guten Morgen, weisses Kätzchen, Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zürich, Switzerland

VEB Kontor, Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt, Germany

2017

New Works, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria

Bilder, Sculpturenpark Waldfrieden, Wuppertal, Germany

Drachenlinien, Galerie nächst St. Stephan, Vienna, Austria

Tisch des Monats, (with Olga Lina Knoebel), Hetjens Deutsches Keramikmuseum, Düsseldorf, Germany

Imi Knoebel – Zeichnungen, Jahn und Jahn, Munich, Germany

Imi Knoebel, Galerie von Bartha, Basel, Switzerland

2016

Imi Knoebel - Multiples, Galerie Stepahnaie Jaax, Brussels, Belgium

Liaison astéroïde, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France

Red Yellow Blue, Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig, Germany

Imi Knoebel - Fernand Léger: une rencontre, Musée National Fernand Léger, Biot, France

2015

Imi Knoebel Linienbilder 1966-68, Villa Griesebach, Berlin, Germany

Triller, Galerie Heinrich Ehrhardt, Madrid, Spain

Anima Mundi, Galerie Thomas Modern, Munich, Germany

Imi Knoebel – Malewitsch zu Ehren, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany

Imi Knoebel - Kernstücke, Museum Haus Esters, Museen Haus Lange und Haus Esters, Krefeld, Germany

Imi Knoebels Linienbilder 1966-68, Villa Grisebach, Düsseldorf, Germany

Inside the White Cube, White Cube (Bermondsey), London, UK

Imi Knoebel - Recent Works, Patrick de Brook Gallery, Knokke-Zoute, Belgium

Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt, Germany

Inauguration of Imi Knoebel's glass windows for the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Reims (May 11, 2015), Reims, France

2014

Rosa Ort, Galerie Kewenig, Berlin, Germany

Position, Galerie Bernard Jordan, Zürich, Switzerland

Imi Knoebel. Arbeiten aus den Jahren 1970-2014, Galerie Fahnemann, Berlin, Germany

Imi Knoebel. Works 1966 – 2014, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, Germany

Raum 19 IV, Galerie Christian Lethert, Cologne, Germany

Position, Catherine Putman Galerie, Paris, France

Mahlzeit, Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt, Germany

2013

DAS UND DAS – Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria

Galerie von Bartha, S-chanf, Switzerland

LUEB, Barbel Grasslin, Frankfurt, Germany

Position, Jordan/Seydoux, Berlin, Germany

Eine Austellung, Parkhaus, Düsseldorf, Germany

Akira Ikeda Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2012

Hirschfaktor - Die Kunst des Zitierens, Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe, Germany

Der dritte Raum. Trze ci Pokój. The Third Room - Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

Vera Munro Gallery, Hamburg, Germany

Galerie Clemens Fahnemann, Berlin, Germany

Galerie Hans Strelow, Düsseldorf, Germany

2011

IMI KNOEBEL - Werke aus der Sammlung Schaufler, Schauwerk Sindelfingen, Sindelfingen, Germany

IMI Knoebel, Galerie Vera Munro, Hamburg, Germany

Rosenkranz Kubus X, Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig, Germany

Imi Knoebel: Kartoffelbilder, Galerie nächst St. Stephan, Vienna, Austria

Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France

Design of the gothic windows for the Cathedral of Reims, Reims, France

2010

Weiss – Schwarz, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria

Imi Knoebel, Mary Boone Gallery, New York City, NY, USA

Imi Knoebel - Der Deutsche, Giacomo Guidi Arte Contemporanea, Rome, Italy

Just love me, MUDAM - Musée d'art moderne grand-duc Jean, Luxembourg

2009

ICH NICHT und ENDUROS, Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin, Germany

ZU HILFE, ZU HILFE…, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany

Imi Knoebel. Werke aus der Sammlung Siegfried und Jutta Weishaupt, Kunsthalle Weishaupt, Ulm, Germany

Joseph Beuys and His Students - Works From The Deutsche Bank Collection - SSM - Sakip Sabanci Müzesi, Istanbul, Turkey

2008

Auftrag für das Glasfenster der Kathedrale Reims, Reims, France

2007

Imi Knoebel - Werke 1966-2006 - Wilhelm Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany

Project, Transform, Erase: Anthony McCall and Imi Knoebel - San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, USA

2006

abstrakt/abstract - Museum Moderner Kunst Kärnten, Klagenfurt, Austria

2005

Blinky Palermo - Imi Knoebel - KunstHaus Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

Imi Knoebel, New Works, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac Paris, France

2004

Imi Knoebel - Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany

2003

Imi Knoebel: pure Freude, Akira Ikeda Gallery, Berlin, Germany

2002

Imi Knoebel - Kunstverein Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany

text source: Thaddaeus Ropac