Gelbe Fahne, serigraph

Imi Knoebel is a German artist who produces bright, saturated abstract artworks that reference minimalism and geometric abstraction while devising a new and unique visual language.

Face 85, acrylic on plastic foil

Knoebel points to Kazimir Malevich as a major influence, and it’s clear to see where the latter’s Suprematist painting style -- consisting largely of simple shapes and flat planes of colour -- comes into Knoebel’s artworks. Where Malevich often restricted himself to a single colour per painting, Knoebel seems to focus particularly on the relationships between different colours. 

There’s a sense of modularity to Knoebel’s paintings -- the artist’s strong understanding of colour theory and values lends to a sense that coloured fields and shapes are physical objects, layered over top of one another in a piece.

14 Farben 17 Stäbe, acrylic on plastic foil