Anselm Kiefer
Aperiatur Terra
Anselm Kiefer Von den Verlorenen gerührt, die der Glaube nicht trug, erwachen die Trommeln im Fluss 2004, purchased with funds provided by Geoff and Vicki Ainsworth and Catriona and Simon Mordant 2006
Anselm Kiefer is regarded as one of the most important and influential artists working today. This exhibition reveals some of the themes that Kiefer is currently exploring in his studio in France. One of these themes appears as a room dedicated to Palm Sunday, with painting and sculpture, using mixed media such as date palms, thorns, clay and red oxide.
The Gallery’s new major works, both titled Von den Verlorenen gerührt, die der Glaube nicht trug, erwachen die Trommeln im Fluss, are two separate but closely related pieces that represent an enduring theme in Kiefer’s work where the horizon represents the meeting of the material (earth) and immaterial (heaven), resulting in a moment of transcendence.
The first (pictured) is a relief painting, including broken concrete steps that miraculously hover near the horizon like a failed stairway from earth to heaven.
The second is a floor piece donated by the artist that represents a heavenly emanation, like a meteor shower that has landed on earth, consisting of slivers of glass each inscribed with the number of an astronomical entity.
