Text by CLOT Magazine
Until 26 January 2020, White Cube in London presents Superstrings, Runes, The Norns, Gordian Knot, an exhibition of new work by Anselm Kiefer. The exhibition aims to bring together —mythology, astronomy and history— topics that characterise Kiefer’s work.
After studying law, and Romance languages and literature, he attended the School of Fine Arts. Anselm Kiefer developed his own indigenous set of subjects and symbols that he used to explore the fraught territory of German history and identity. Anselm Kiefer has produced a diverse body of work comprising painting, sculpture and installation, making him one of the most important European artists of the past four decades. In his practice, he uses a wide range of materials, from oil paint, dirt, and lead to photography, woodcuts, sand, straw and all manner of organic materials.
String theory is a mathematical model that attempts to articulate the known fundamental interactions of the universe and forms of matter. Kiefer has tried to bring together theories of seemingly extraneous principles from different cultures and histories in this new body of work. In so doing, he makes visual the idea that everything is connected: the missing letters, string theory, the Norns, the Gordian knot.
On 13 January at 6.30 pm, Hans Ulrich Obrist leads a panel discussion at White Cube Bermondsey focusing on themes from Anselm Kiefer’s exhibition Superstrings, Runes, The Norns, Gordian Knot. The panel includes Mónica Bello, Anselm Kiefer, Priya Natarajan, Ben Okri, Marcus du Sautoy and Janne Sirén.
