German painter and sculptor, Anselm Kiefer, stands as one of the world’s most prominent contemporary artists. Born in Donasueschingen (1945), he has lived and worked in France since 1993, continuing to develop and be exhibited at some of the biggest galleries to date, including solo shows at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam and The Royal Academy London.

For his new exhibition, on view during Art Basel Miami Beach, Kiefer is celebrated for his contributions as a post-World War Two artist. As an all-encompassing show at NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the works on display explore themes of identity and the blurred boundaries between history and mythology.

Regeneration Series: Anselm Kiefer from the Hall Collection stands as one of the world’s largest group of works by the artist, with approximately 50 major artist books, works on paper, paintings and sculptures from the late 1960s to the present day. Addressing National Socialism, the War and the Holocaust, his critically acclaimed works have taken a journey ­– coming to terms with a personal and collective past, and the guilt associated with German identity post-war.

The pieces on display explore these deeply emotive and nostalgic themes through depicting such myths as Isis and Osiris, the ancient Egyptian myth of destruction and regeneration, and, in extension, the history of German philosophy and culture. He develops these subjects in large­scale, narratively complex layered paintings of oil and mixed media, enormous installations, and elaborate artist books and watercolours, into which he embeds these symbolic, and confrontational references. Notable works include The Fertile Crescent, (2009, Winterwald, (2010) and Jakob’s Traum, (2010).

NSU Art Museum’s Regeneration Series is inspired by its renowned collection of Cobra art of postwar, avant-­garde artists from Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam and its growing role as a leading scholarly resource for the exhibition and research of art of this period.

Regeneration Series: Anselm Kiefer from the Hall Collection, NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, Florida,  29 November – 27 August.

Find out more: www,nsuartmuseum.org.

Credits:
1. Anselm Kiefer, Winterwald, (2010). Oil.