Bucket List Dia Beacon – Imi Knoebel Exhibition

Bucket List Dia Beacon – Imi Knoebel Exhibition: The Dia Beacon’s recently opened exhibition of Imi Knoebel’s work of the 1960s and ’70s grapples with questions of form, material, surface, and space in ways reminiscent of the abstract minimalist artists of his era such as Ellsworth Kelly. The German born Knoebel who lives and works in Dusseldorf to this day, works with abstract shapes layered with a type of paint typically used for industrial anticorrosion purposes.

In this exhibition, the Dia Beacon presents Knoebel’s works from his ten-part Mennigebilder series (1976-2017) showcasing his use of complex forms and unconventional colors of lead paint. The works are characterized by his use of overlapping, irregularly shaped wood panels. In his Rot Gelb Blau I–VI (Red Yellow Blue I–VI, 1978–79), all of which are on view in Beacon, the artist works exclusively in primary colors on irregularly shaped heptagon canvases.

These works have been show only once in Cologne in 1981. The Dia acquired the collection in 1982 and it has never been exhibited in the United States. See it in one of Dia Beacon’s large central galleries.

Check out the Permanent Installations

Of course, any trip to this 160,000 square foot museum (bring your comfortable shoes) dedicated to single artist, large scale site-specific installations (or what we like to call art on steroids) is not complete without visiting their long term installations. Such as Walter De Maria’s Equal Area Series, twenty-five pairs of  stainless-steel circles and squares placed directly on the ground. De Maria’s works that explore the limits of perception are often based on non-observant mathematic calculations. In the case of his Equal Area Series, for instance, the area of each circle sculpture is equal to the area of each square sculpture.

Another popular permanent installation is that of John Chamberlain. Chamberlain’s candy-colored sculptures made from crushed-metal car parts invoke at once, the spirit of Abstract Expressionist paintings and Pop art. Because of the materials Chamberlain uses, his sculpture making involves cutting, crushing, torqueing, and crimping rather than molding and forming. The abstract forms he creates gain their Pop art feel from the sprayed, stenciled, and dribbled coats of color he applies to their enameled surfaces. Just in case you don’t find his work intriguing enough he gives each one a often puzzling title – such as his The Hot Lady from Bristol, shown left.

For a taste of the truly monumental, Richard Serra’s Torqued Ellipses are of proportions more commonly seen in outdoor sculpture collections than indoor museums. These large sculptures of contorted steel plates, sculptures you can walk in and be fully surrounded by,  play with perceptions of  orientation and movement and volume.

Other classic and popular permanent installations worth seeing range from Sol Lewitt’s Wall Drawing series of large and unconventional geometrical objects which features twin works from 1968 displayed in symmetrical galleries. Lewitt’s works conform to the Dia’s love of monumental sculptures presented here in two-dimensional works drawn directly on the wall. Charlotte Posenenske’s cardboard and aluminum wall reliefs, interactive cubic structures, and modular geometric units. Andy Warhol’s Shadow Series returned to the Dia Beacon last year after an extensive international tour. Shadows is Warhol’s famous abstract work spread across 102 canvases that synthesizes all the elements of the artist’s repertoire from film, painting, and photography to screen printing. The number of canvases represented in each of the Shadow Series installations has varied depending on the size of the exhibition space. This Dia Beacon installation includes 72 canvases edge to edge, a foot above the floor. And another favorite of ours is Dan Flavin’s sculptures made of commercially available fluorescent tubes in ten colors and five shapes.

These five artists represent just a small slice of the installations in the Dia’s Long Term View exhibits that features works by thirty different artists. When you are there don’t miss the Louise Bourgeois room, Mario Merz’s Teatro cavallo, and Lee Ufan’s Relatum (formerly Iron Field) pictured right.

Notable Noshes Nearby

After the Dia there’s a host of dining options in Beacon from nosh pits to fine dining. Notables include The Roundhouse, a stunning restoration of an old factory building with waterfall views of Fishkill Creek. Two of the Hudson Valley’s top rated restaurants are just 15 minutes away – if you’re feeling frisky. Including Il Cenacola in Newburgh, a refined Northern Italian perennially ranked as one of the top 10 eateries in the Hudson Valley.  And Aroma Osteria in Wappinger’s Falls. Wherever you go don’t miss some of the take home options on Main Street. Including Hudson Valley Chocolatiers for chocolate covered pretzels and Graham Crackers. And Glazed Over, for the most amazing design-your-own donuts. You start with a basic donut and select a glaze, topping and drizzle from a long list of add-ons. Check out our creations: Lemon glaze, almond topping and raspberry drizzle to the left. Chocolate glaze, coconut topping and raspberry drizzle to the right. Enjoy!

(The Dia Museum is open Tues-Sat, 11am-6pm at 3 Beakman St., Beacon; www.diaart.org) Masks are still currently required inside the museum as of June 28, 2021.

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