Aperiatur terra | Anselm Kiefer
Palmsonntag, 2006. Mixed Media, 215 x 141 x 11 cm.
Palmsonntag, 2006. Mixed Media, 215 x 141 x 11 cm
Palmsonntag, 2006. Mixed Media, 215 x 141 x 11 cm.
Palmsonntag, 2006. Mixed Media, 215 x 141 x 11 cm.
Palmsonntag, 2006. Mixed Media, 215 x 141 x 11 cm.
Palmsonntag, 2006. Mixed Media, 215 x 141 x 11 cm.
A key figure in European post-war culture, Anselm Kiefer’s art derives from his great awareness of history, theology, mythology, literature and philosophy, and his exploration of a range of materials such as lead, concrete, straw, clay, flowers and seeds.
Kiefer grew up in Germany close to the French border on the Rhine and looked to France as his spiritual home. His early work was influenced by Joseph Beuys and in the context of the immediate post-war period, Kiefer set out to understand Germany’s recent history, then still a taboo subject.In later work, the artist drew on German military history, Wagnerian mythology and Nazi architecture to grapple with the possibility of pursuing creativity in the light of catastrophic human suffering. Kiefer’s technique of layering paint and debris gives visceral life to his preoccupations with decay and re-creation.
After the reunification of Germany Kiefer moved to Barjac, a small town in the South of France, developing and widening his preoccupations. His study of ancient belief-systems such as the Kabbala and travel to South America, India, China and Australia expanded his interests to a cosmic view of the world. In Barjac he was able to work on an even larger scale and confronted with the natural world, became interested in theories about the lives of plants, the microcosm and macrocosm, and the concept that for every plant there exists a correlated star. The huge installation works of Palmsonntag (Palm Sunday), refer to the Christian holy day and suggests the balance between death and resurrection, decay and recreation so characteristic of Kiefer’s work.
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Aperiatur terra | Anselm Kiefer
Graham Howes: Anthony Bond: Norman Rosenthal
White Cube
2007
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B
Bearing, Darren Almond, 2007
From the exhibit Fire Under Snow at the Parasol unit, London (18 January 2008 – 30 March 2008)
Darren Almond’s diverse work, incorporating film, installation, sculpture and photography, deals with evocative meditations on time and duration as well as the themes of personal and historical memory.
Almond is interested in the notions of geographical limits and the means of getting there – in particular, culturally specific points of arrival and departure. Many of Almond’s works are filmed in remote and often inaccessible locations.
The artist followed a sulphur miner in Indonesia during one of the labourer’s daily journeys from the mouth of a crater to the weighing station to produce Bearing, shot with a high definition camera.
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A
History of Our World 
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