Knoebel's first exhibition, IMI + IMI, with Imi Giese, a fellow student of Beuys's, was held in Copenhagen in 1968. Since that time, he has exhibited his works in documentas 5 (1972), 6 (1977), 7 (1982), and 8 (1987), and at Sonsbeek (1971). In 1996 the Haus der Kunst, Munich, staged a large retrospective of his works which travelled throughout Europe, including such venues as the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, and Institut Valencià d'Art Modern, Centre Julio González, Valencia. Knoebel had a major retrospective in summer 2009 at the Hamburger Bahnhof and the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin;Imi Knoebel: Knife Cuts Part 2, April 23, 2009 - April 11, 2010 Dia Art Foundation - Press Release, April 15, 2009. the Neue Nationalgalerie showed an arrangement of monumental key works relating to the upper hall of the famous Mies van der Rohe building, as well as gestural painting in various shades of white, which used the glass panes surrounding the upper storey of the building.
