Retrospective 1964–1977
October 31, 2010–January 16, 2011
LACMA
Blinky Palermo, Untitled, 1968
"The very name, Blinky Palermo, surprising for a contemporary German artist, evokes a rush of romantic associations. It provokes a desire to know more about this artist, (1943-1977) and the circumstances of his brief career, just some 15 years in duration. And, to learn of his proper place in the pantheon of contemporary art. Particularly, his position in the movement of making site-specific wall drawings and where his often flat, monochromatic fabric pieces/ paintings fit into simultaneous developments in the New York School.
Also, just what was his relationship as a student of Joseph Beuys and a peer of the artists, Sigmar Polke, and Gerhard Richter. There are complex questions as to why Palermo pursued reductive, abstract art, in a Constructivist/ Suprematist manner, in apparent contradiction to the, “social sculpture,” of Beuys, and the complex media and imagery of Richter, Polke and others of the Dusseldorf school. And, what other influences were there on the development of Palermo; in particular, the influential artist and teacher, Otto Piene, and Group Zero, with its interests in abstraction as well as science and technology. Just how to unravel the complex mix of artists, students and teachers who were the focus of Dusseldorf during Palermo’s formative but brief years. "
taken from here....
B l i n k y P a l e r m o
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