The BNF or the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, is, in my book, a dreadful place to get to. I walk along the quais and finally get there only having to climb what seems like endless steps. Then there is a central square to cross where the wind howls and you rush to get there - usually against the wind. The so called shorter route is not a good one for me so along the quais I go. You really need to be motivated to go there. I was off to see Anselm Kiefer and for another given reason, I had confused him with Anish Kapoor! The two artists could not be more unalike.
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| The tall building on the right |
With this exhibition we discover over one hundred books he worked on between 1968 and 2015, presented with recent sculptures and paintings.
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| Lots to read but fascinating and "Clariere" 2015 |
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| His library as he constructed it |
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| The exhibition space |
What I was to learn is that Anselm Kiefer, who is mainly known for his paintings and sculptures, his books represent 60% of his creation.
Paradoxically, there has been no retrospective presenting this work in the past. His artist’s books are unique. Their size and presentation have been developing over the decades. Sometimes very large, they enclose various materials such as clay, sand, ashes, hair, plants, straw, photos and lead which is the preferred medium of the artist.
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| Heroic symbols 1969-2010 |
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| Heroic symbols 1969-2010 |
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| Heroic symbols 1969-2010 |
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| Isae 1999 |
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Nigredo (lead, salt, sulfer and mercury) 1988
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| Nigredo (lead, salt, sulfer and mercury) 1988 |
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Nigredo (lead, salt, sulfer and mercury) 1988
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Nigredo (lead, salt, sulfer and mercury) 1988
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The exhibition is small but at once you enter into a world of the most intimate aspects of his artistic universe. There are different spaces which you can enter but are sometimes intimidating due to the installation itself and many spectators just looked ….and looked….
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| The Lost Letter-2012 (metal, resin, acrylic, shellac and plaster) |
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| part of the above |
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| The Rhin 1982-2013 |
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| The Rhin 1982-2013 |
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| The Rhin 1982-2013 |
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| each had a different name |
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| The secret life of plants -2001 |
The selection of works of around 100 pieces explore the various topics the artist has been using for over forty years: the collection of books dedicated to writers, cosmogonies (The secret life of plants) or antic myths (Gilgamesh and Enkidu); sand books, burnt books, books made of lead and recent books of erotic watercolours made on plaster.
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| For Jean Genet 1969-2010 |
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| Eos |
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| Remember in Milan? |
It also shows which way the artist moves from one medium to another. It reveals how much the written word means at the centre of his work and how literary, philosophical and historical references nourish his art.
As we were permitted to take photos (and l set of a trend with all the spectators snapping away on their phones). I went around the exhibition once, doing just that. Then a second time examining each piece as closely as I good. The text for once was not long and torturous and in fact quite interesting.
So climbing all those stairs and being blown across the square had been really worth while.
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