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Re: What Does This Mean ?

From: H. Dryburgh
Date: 18 Nov 2010
Time: 06:06:54 -0600

Review

I think you ignore or confuse Blinky Palermo with Imi Knoebel, CAP. They were at one stage collaborators and shared a studio. Palermo died young, in 1977, Knoebel persists with his brand of tasteful minimalism. As for the hypothesis that the influence of Beuys stifles minimalism in Germany - Palermo was a student of Beuys at the notorious Dusseldorf Academy in the 60s. His use of monochrome fabrics is more of a Beuysian tangent to minimalist interests. He re-uses or re-positions a commercial product to 'subvert' minimalist attention to surface and support, or uses minimalism to 'recover' or revalue otherwise overlooked qualities to the material, depending how you look at it. Beuys does not exactly prevent minimalism in Germany, as re-directs it along a more sociological or ideological trajectory. That is probably why it takes some time for the international market to recognise German minimlaism, but by then of course, the movement has lost momentum and lacks advocates amongst critics. If Knoebel and Palermo never make much of an impact on the course of abstraction (through and beyond minimalism) I submit that it is also because they were essentially lesser talents. But then I am not much of a fan of German art.