Blinky Palermo

Klinker Collection, Bochum
Galerie Kiki Maier-Hahn, Dusseldorf
Private Collection, Germany
Thence by descent to the present owner

Barcelona, Museu d'Art Contemporani, Blinky Palermo, 2002-03, p. 100, illustrated in colour

Thordis Moeller, Ed., Exhibition Catalogue, Bonn, Kunst Museum Bonn, Palermo. Bilder und Objekte, 1994-95, Werkverzeichnis Band I, 1995, n.p., no. 70, illustrated in colour

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate. Condition: This work is in very good condition. There is some wear and associated paint loss to all three corner tips. There are some minor losses of paint to the outer edges: one towards the middle of the left edge and towards the lower right corner. There are a few hairline cracks in places across the surface. There is a small area of media accretion towards the bottom right corner. No restoration is apparent under ultraviolet light.
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Blinky Palermo was undoubtedly one of the most revolutionary artists of the Twentieth Century, a creative figure who, in his tragically short career, produced a diverse body of works of outstanding originality, frequently subverting the accepted conventions of form, colour and medium in the pursuit of his artistic ideals. Palermo’s works exist in a realm of pure, glorious abstraction, unencumbered by subject-matter or illustrative concerns, existing solely as representations of colour and form in themselves. Both Rechter Winkel (1968) and Untitled (1970) are masterful examples of his paintings, the matt black of the former accentuated by the forceful shape of the triangle in which it is encased, whilst the soft grey of Untitled hovers against the wall. Each work is an extraordinary distillation of Palermo’s truly unique vision, in which colour in its purest form is the ultimate, definitive subject.

Both Rechter Winkel and Untitled are exquisite examples of Palermo’s ability to imbue the simplest of shapes and colour tones with a profound sense of presence and power. Whilst Untitled plays with the idea of the opposition of two differing shapes, delineated by the barest variation of greys, Rechter Winkel effectively goes beyond the colour spectrum, allowing the matt black to make a definitive statement in its own right. The powerful use of black within a sharply geometrical setting suggests a dialogue with the work of Kasimir Malevich, whose Black Square (1915) provided an extraordinary contemporary response to the traditional idea of a religious icon; Palermo’s Rechter Winkel arguably serves a similar function when examined in this light, inviting contemplation and meditation. Although the veritable absence of colour in the traditional sense leads at first to a feeling of calm repose, Palermo’s decision to use a right-angled triangle as the canvas ground also succeeds in introducing an inimitable sense of dynamism to the composition, which seems to achieve a remarkable three-dimensionality independent of its life as a wall-painting. Whether viewed as stunning examples of Palermo’s oeuvre or as a manifestation of the possible spiritual and symbolic qualities of abstract colour planes, Rechter Winkel and Untitled are truly magnificent works by one of the most original and visionary artists of the Twentieth Century.

The extraordinary originality of Palermo’s works is all the more astounding when his background, divided between war-ravaged East Germany and the contrasting comforts of its Western counterpart, is taken into account. The master of re-invention, both artistic and social, Palermo was born in 1943 (one of twins) in Leipzig to Elsa Martha Schwarze and Kurt Eichelmann, a German airman. Barely three months later the twins were adopted by Wilhelm and Erika Heisterkamp, and Palermo received his first new identity: that of Peter Heisterkamp, the son of a successful steel contractor. The Heisterkamp family moved from East to West Germany in 1952, and a comfortable, middle class upbringing followed. Palermo’s childhood, however, was resolutely lacking in creative or artistic education, an area of which Wilhelm Heisterkamp strongly disapproved. Palermo’s wishes prevailed, and in 1961 he was allowed to take up a place at the Design College in Münster to study Graphic Design. The following year the already promising young artist was accepted into the Academy in Düsseldorf where he originally studied under Bruno Goller; seminal encounters with fellow students Gerhard Richter and Sigmar Polke took place during this period. The three young artists seem to have immediately recognised the remarkable potential inherent in each other’s work, learning from each other and thriving in the artistically conducive atmosphere of the Academy; indeed, the friendship between Richter and Palermo was to be lifelong and was to lead to successful collaborations between the two in 1970-71. Richter recalled the importance of his friendship with Palermo: “Because we were so different, we didn’t compete with each other. I always appreciated the way he could create something that seemed so silent” (Gerhard Richter, cited in: Deitmar Elger, Gerhard Richter, A Life in Painting, Cologne 2002, p. 182).

It was Palermo’s move to Joseph Beuys’s class in 1964 that provided a crucial artistic spur, galvanising his nascent interest in the possibility of spatial relationships between colour and form that was to define the remainder of his career.  On becoming one of the original Beuysrittern (Knights of Beuys), Palermo adopted the sobriquet by which he was to become internationally renowned, taking the name from an American boxing promoter and Mafioso. Beuys encouraged the use of the new name, declaring that the decision to take a fresh name “coincides with ‘the idea of new paintings’“ (Joseph Beuys, cited in: Exhibition Catalogue, New York, Dia Art Foundation, Blinky Palermo: Retrospective 1964-1977, 2010, p. 185). Beuys’s continuing support proved key as Palermo strove to launch his career within Germany, honouring him with his appointment as a Master Student as well as recommending his work for gallery shows as a means of gaining wider recognition for his precociously talented pupil, whom he recognised as a truly original and visionary artist. Although Palermo’s career was a short one, the remarkable works he left behind are today considered as some of the most innovative and exciting creations of the Twentieth Century.