καιρός remembered

Vintage Kiefer

The enormous paintings that – for the time of the exhibition – covered the painted walls of the Sala dello Scrutinio in the Palazzo Ducale in 2022 consist not just of paint on canvas. Whole bicycles, shopping trolleys, clothes and, of course, little submarines are attached to the canvasses. But it’s through the use of paint that they make their overwhelming impression. Kiefer’s paintings plunge you in an apocalyptic experience. It is difficult not to see in them allusions to the natural disasters due to climate change that impact the Earth and life on it.

Through his landscapes Kiefer shows us how the Earth gets mutilated by human activity. But there is more to it. The skies of his landscapes are usually extremely worked through with paint in all kinds of colours, and this gives them a cosmic dimension. We are not just looking at our planet in its own bubble, but are at the same time transported to the larger theatre of cosmic creation and destruction.

Photos of the week: Questi scritti, quando verranno brusciati, daranno finalmente un po’ di luce, details of paintings, Anselm Kiefer, Sala dello Scrutinio, Palazzo Ducale, Venice, Italy 2022