In his work, material and intangible entities penetrate. Metaphors and mythological symbols that refer to the suspended time of waiting
“I was born in a hospital basement. That’s where my mother gave birth to me and that same night our house was bombed”. Born and raised in the rubble of a country razed to the ground, Anselm Kiefer (Donaueschingen - Germany, 1945) is today one of the greatest living artists.
“Fallen angels”, title of the exhibition at Palazzo Strozzi, because the angels, figures immortalized by artists of all ages, do not even escape his gaze. Rebellious, fallen angels, who have lost their celestial connotation, choosing disobedience, seeking among the passions what they lack. However, Kiefer’s angels do not hover over the sky of Berlin (remember the film of his friend and compatriot Wim Wenders?) rather over a sea of rubble, even if the sky is gold.
HE IS ALWAYS THE ALCHEMIST, THE VISIONARY AND ICONOCLASTIC ARCHITECT WHO BURNS, DEMOLISHES AND REBUILDS
In the recent exhibition at the Palazzo Ducale in Venice, he had covered with his paintings all the walls of the Sala dello Scrutinio, here, in Florence he prefers, instead, a vis-à-vis with the Renaissance spaces. He has no doubt about installing in the entrance courtyard the immense work Engelssturz (Fall of the Angel, 750x840), conceived just for the occasion and immediately visible to all.
Then, in 8 rooms there are installations, paintings, photographs (from 1982 to today) in a surprising sequence for different themes, for literary and philosophical references. In addition to giving the name to the exhibition, Engelssturz, already says many things about the artist: his predilection for monumental dimensions, for the chaotic materiality, for comparison with history (here the inspiration goes to Saint Michael the Archangel, the good angel, by Luca Giordano) and with religions (he also writes the name, Michael, in Hebrew).
REBELLIOUS, FALLEN ANGELS, WHO HAVE LOST THEIR HEAVENLY CONNOTATION, CHOOSE DISOBEDIENCE, SEEK AMONG THE PASSIONS WHAT THEY LACK
It will not be easy to escape the great existential questions because the temporal stress, the dramatic precariousness of the present, the dualism of human nature, is immediately upon us.
There is always something hard and tender, something that distances and something that attracts, something that seems disorienting and yet seems so familiar in his work. Material and immaterial entities penetrate, become metaphors and symbols, are lost and are found in mythology, in the suspended time of waiting. Passing through his works is like crossing the threshold of a primordial place, or a place whose earth we have already trod. And this exhibition is no exception.
He is always the alchemist, the visionary and iconoclastic architect who burns, demolishes and rebuilds using glass, straw, seeds, debris, cloth, lead: a strategist who always goes forward. In that titanic chaos, among those ruins you can always feel the rebirth.
