PT Kiefer_ENG - Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur eV

Press release, October 1, 2010
ANSELM KIEFER –
EUROPA
Preview for the press and invited guests: Friday, October 1, 2010, 6-9 pm
Duration: October 2, 2010 – January 31, 2011
Curator: Heiner Bastian, Berlin
Promoter: Villa Schöningen e.V. / Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur e.V. Bonn
(Foundation for Art and Culture)
Deadline: October 1, 2010
Admission subject to accreditation from: [email protected]
In a jointly staged exhibition entitled "Europa" (“Europe”), scheduled to run from October 2,
2010 to January 31, 2011, the Villa Schöningen is collaborating with the Stiftung für Kunst
und Kultur e.V. Bonn to show nine large-format paintings by Anselm Kiefer, together with
six books designed by the artist in the years from 1994 to 2010. In one of his rare
exhibition presentations in Germany, the artist is for the first time unveiling to the public a
series of works dedicated to the motif of the cow. Here Kiefer is addressing a theme which
over the centuries has featured strongly in European art history, and occupied artists from
Titian to Warhol.
An historic site in German-German history, the Villa Schöningen furnishes the ideal setting
for Kiefer's work. It is, of course, a coincidence, explains the artist, "that these pictures are
being shown at this mythological bridge - the bridge between Berlin and Potsdam, so
pivotal to the destiny of Europe. But there is no such thing as coincidence, and it was
already written in the stars that the cows would cross this bridge."
Anselm Kiefer's cows trace back to range of different cultural-historical and private
sources: His childhood experiences of tending the animals, wandering in the Auvergne
region, Greek mythology and Latin verse (in particular the myths of Zeus and Europa) to
the ideas of Pico della Mirandola, Francisco de Quevedo or Robert Fludd.
Press contact:
Villa Schöningen e.V.: Johanna Clary, Tel. 0331-200 17 41, [email protected]
Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur e.V. Bonn: Tina Franke, Tel 0228-934 55 12, [email protected]
Press release, October 1, 2010
In Indian culture, the cow is revered, in Greek mythology and Roman poetry it forms part
of the standard dramatis persona, and is the symbol of prosperity in the most diverse
cultures, from Europe, Asia to Africa. The cow stands for motherhood, it is rich source of
human nutrition and fertilises the soil with its dung. Although these associations inform the
works of Anselm Kiefer, he goes further and augments them with historical and cosmic
elements.
The relationship between the realm of the plants and the stars, the microcosm and
macrocosm which Kiefer has frequently explored in his oeuvre, also resonate throughout
his paintings: "Cows eat the flowers and return them as stars. Infinite transfiguration" is the
phrase coined by curator Heiner Bastian in crystallising this concept.
The exhibition "Anselm Kiefer – Europa" marks the first joint project between the Villa
Schöningen and the Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur e.V. Bonn. The initiators Mathias
Döpfner (co-owner of Villa Schöningen) and Walter Smerling (Chairman of the Stiftung für
Kunst und Kultur e.V.) are delighted that this cooperation has laid the foundations for a
future Bonn-Berlin axis of exhibitions.
Accompanying the exhibition is a catalogue published by Schirmer/Mosel, featuring an
introduction by Heiner Bastian and an essay by Norman Rosenthal, together with
illustrations of all the works.
Press contact:
Villa Schöningen e.V.: Johanna Clary, Tel. 0331-200 17 41, [email protected]
Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur e.V. Bonn: Tina Franke, Tel 0228-934 55 12, [email protected]