Blinky Palermo

Blinky Palermo, the short-lived (1943–77) German modernist with the flashy moniker, is receiving an American renaissance with this sweeping retrospective exhibit and catalog and other recently published books—Christine Mehring's critical appraisal, Blinky Palermo: Abstraction of an Era, and Palermo: To the People of New York City, which treats his famous last work, a 40-panel painting in 15 parts. A pupil of Joseph Beuys and an associate of Gerhard Richter, Jörg Immendorff, and Imi Knoebel, Palermo produced monochromatic canvases and fabric creations and, later, metal paintings, wall drawings, and large architectural installations. Curator Cooke and Dia Art Foundation editors Karen Kelly and Barbara Schröder include five scholarly essays covering the artist's development, influences and inspirations, themes, media, and major works. The book's beautiful presentation shows 60 works, most of which have not been seen before in the United States. The show starts at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and travels to the Hirshhorn in Washington, DC, and New York's Dia: Beacon.