Imi Knoebel

Grace Kelly (V-3), 1990

Imi Knoebel’s Grace Kelly series of pictures (1989–1995) are each made up of five elements: a plain box, framed by four bars. These are kept distinct by their delineation at the points where they meet and by the use of color. The clear arrangement of the precisely demarcated fields of color is reminiscent of the reductionist style of Kasimir Malevich and Piet Mondrian. The pictures are suggestive of architectural features such as a doorway or the front of a building, but may also be interpreted as a highly schematic representation of the human face. This geometric design, combined with a delicate use of color that allows both vivid contrast and subtle nuance, gives each picture its individuality as well as the power to convey something of the luminosity and yet aloofness commonly associated with the name Grace Kelly.