Blinky Palermo: To the People of New York City

Shortly before his death in 1977, German painter Blinky Palermo created his most significant cycle of paintings, dedicating it "to the people of nyc." The work consists of 15 parts, composed from 40 painted aluminum panels arranged in combinations of cadmium red, cadmium yellow and black. Recalling Piet Mondrian's late series New York City (1941-42), and works by such American artists as Robert Ryman and Brice Marden, To the People of New York City (1976) is distinguished by its prescribed hanging and pacing, and its rhythmically changing formats, which also bring to mind the Jazz performances that Palermo sought out during his time in New York, where he had maintained a studio from 1973 to 1975. This handsome editiondiscusses To the People of New York City--today in the collection of New York's Dia Art Foundation--within this context and alongside works by his former teacher Joseph Beuys, and his long-time friends and colleagues Imi Knoebel and Gerhard Richter, among others.