During the 1980s, Imi Knoebel created series of works that displayed a gestural, expressive style of painting. These include the Drachenzeichnungen and Entscheidungszeichnungen, created between 1980 and 1982. They consist of several layers of transparent plastic foil, which the artist painted with acrylic or lacquer colors and superimposed on cardboard. Sometimes colored paper shapes are also arranged on the picture composition as a collage, or painted glass is used. The interplay of overlapping layers and colors lends the drawings almost sculptural depth. The title of the Drachenzeichnungen references the small Chinese character for dragon that appears as a red stamp on every sheet and indicates Knoebel’s star sign in the Chinese horoscope.
The same group of works also includes: Ohne Titel (Drachenzeichnung) (1980).
