BERLIN.- Already since 1989, Imi Knoebel has been supporting the non-profit association Kinderstern e.V., which offers help to children in need. The editions for the double exhibition Imi Knoebel: Ich Nicht New Works and Enduros Deutsche Bank Collection at the
Deutsche Guggenheim reflect this commitment. Upon the wish of the artist, the entire proceeds of the wall object An Meine Grüne Seite as well as the print above and below it will be donated to the non-profit association Kinderstern e.V.
In the Deutsche Guggenheim Shop, children were also able to paint paper stars designed by Imi Knoebel and have them in return for a donation. This initiative was met with great response by the audience. In total, the sales generated proceeds of 25,000 euros, which will be donated to the association in August 2009.
In the past, Kinderstern e.V. has supported, among others, initiatives for children of the Chernobyl disaster in the Ukraine and orphans infected with HIV in Thailand. The donation of the Deutsche Guggenheim will benefit the commitment to the home for refugees in Düsseldorf-Rath, which Kinderstern e.V. has been supporting since 2007. In this facility, children left to their own devices from Chechnya and Azerbaijan are looked after in their free time.
Imi Knoebel was born in Dessau, Germany, in 1940. From 1963 to 1971, he was a student of Joseph Beuys at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. His first exhibition, IMI + IMI, with Imi Giese, a fellow student of Beuys’s, was held in Copenhagen in 1968. Since that time, Knoebel has exhibited his works in Documentas 5 (1972), 6 (1977), 7 (1982), and 8 (1987), and at Sonsbeek (1971). In 1987 Knoebel oversaw an installation of his own work, as well as that of Beuys and Blinky Palermo, for the inaugural exhibitions at Dia’s galleries on West 22nd Street in New York City. In 1996–97, a retrospective of his work traveled throughout Europe, to such venues as Haus der Kunst, Munich; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; and Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Centre Julio González, Valencia. He lives and works in Düsseldorf.
