Anselm Kiefer

The exhibition in New York features paintings of monumental buildings and ruins. Their architectural symbolism is permeated with themes found in Exodus and developed by writers who have long inspired Kiefer, including Paul Celan and E.T.A. Hoffmann. Danaë (2016–21) anchors the installation, fusing a representation of the vast interior of Tempelhof Airport in Berlin with the ancient Greek myth of Zeus transfigured into a shower of gold, leading to the prominent use of gold leaf in the painting. The storied site was built in an area belonging to the Knights Templar in the Middle Ages, opened as an airport complex in 1923, was developed extensively under the Third Reich, and played a critical role in the Berlin Airlift during the Cold War. Significantly, the decommissioned facility was recently used to provide temporary shelter for refugees, connecting it to the themes of Exodus. Other buildings represented in the paintings include Montecassino Abbey in Italy; Albert Speer’s Zeppelin Grandstand in Nuremberg, Germany; and Louis Kahn’s Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, India—all historically and culturally resonant structures.

In paintings such as Für E.T.A. HOFFMANN (2021), empty clothing attached to the surfaces stand in for human figures. Another group of paintings combines landscape elements with improvised vehicles—grocery carts, luggage dollies, and bicycles—that function as means of transport between realms. Laden with bundles, these objects recall their contemporary use by those who are displaced from home or seeking one, or by immigrants arriving in a new land, fleeing from war, oppression, and natural disasters.

In the works on view at Gagosien at Marciano Art Foundation in Los Angeles, Kiefer further elaborates themes of loss, history, and redemption. Exodus (2012–21) is demarcated between the lower register with a landscape of paint and straw affixed to the canvas, and a dynamic composition above that whirls in concentric circles, centering on clusters of forms that envelop a bicycle. The link between the terrestrial and the celestial carries through in the ladder between the two spheres in En Sof (2020–22), and the emanation of Wolkensäule (Column of Clouds) (2009–21). A suspended sculpture of a modern naval vessel stands in for the destruction of the pharaoh’s military in the narrative of the parting of the Red Sea found in Exodus, as recounted in the title of Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead (2020).

Another pair of paintings on view in Los Angeles feature grounds of gold leaf, over which a cascade of mangled shopping carts and straw mats is suspended. In one, artist’s palettes and brushes are intermixed, conveying the symbolic weight and materiality that are central to Kiefer’s art making, as well as the transcendence of creative work and its ability to traverse between the earthly and the divine. These themes are shared by Phoenix (2018–19), a large sculpture of a winged palette composed of stainless steel and lead.

A fully illustrated catalogue will be published to accompany the exhibition. The presentation at Marciano Art Foundation will include a selection of Gagosien publications and a reading room dedicated to monographs on Kiefer that features a selection of rare books.