Anselm Kiefer
Am Anfang (In the Beginning)
Works from the Hans Grothe Collection
20 June–16 September 2012
Art and Exhibition Hall
of the Federal Republic of Germany
Museum Mile Bonn
Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 4, D-53113 Bonn
Hours: Tue & Wed, 10–9pm; Thu–Sun, 10–7pm
Early access for groups on Fridays from 9am
T +49 (0)228 9171200
info [at] bundeskunsthalle.de
Coinciding with dOCUMENTA 13 in Kassel, the Art and Exhibition Hall in Bonn is presenting key works by Anselm Kiefer (b. 1945) from the Grothe Collection. Staged across 2000 square metres of gallery space, Am Anfang (In the Beginning) is the first exhibition devoted to this substantial body of works by the celebrated German artist. The selection, complemented by recent acquisitions and sculptural pieces, reaffirms the uniqueness of Kiefer’s oeuvre.
Anselm Kiefer is one of the most important international artists of our time. Over the course of his career he has created a complex, labyrinthine cosmos of his own, which allows him to address existential questions about the nature of myths, Christianity, Jewish mysticism, history, nature (including nuclear energy), music, and literature, and to develop pictorial strategies of outstanding aesthetic quality. Kiefer’s epic works are made even more fascinating by the artist’s unusual choice of material which underpins his subject matter: thickly applied layers of paint, earth, lead, enamel, plants, clothing, or hair reach beyond the traditional two-dimensionality of pictorial space and into the realm of the viewer. Anselm Kiefer tries to shed light on the story behind the story. Explaining that he ‘pokes a hole, and then goes through it,’ he highlights the processual nature of history and memory, especially when approached with subjective interpretations, a highly personal handling of individual mythologies, and a distinctive creative style.
A cooperation with the Foundation for Art and Culture, Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany
*Image above: Anselm Kiefer, Am Anfang (In the Beginning) (detail), 2008.
Grothe Collection, ©Anselm Kiefer, 2011, courtesy Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur e.V., Bonn.
