In the course of the 2000s, Imi Knoebel pursued his design principle of layering different image carriers and planes. The acrylic paintings on plastic foil in the series MILANO Paintings provide a good example. These paintings feature a grid structure of colorful vertical and horizontal strips, one on top of the other in a collage on a rectangular ground. Knoebel has been interested in the technique of collage since the beginning of his career, as can be seen, among other things, in the colorful Messerschnitte from the 1970s. The MILANO Paintings were also created as acrylic paintings on aluminum.
The same group of works also includes: LILLLI Ed. (2001/2009) and NONNOA Ed. (2002/2009).