Anselm Kiefer exhibition blew me away!

Anselm Kiefer (outside the RA)

I was trying to find some time in my busy end of year schedule to go and look at the Anselm Kiefer exhibition at the Royal Academy before it ends on 14th December. I saw a documentary about the German artist on TV (Imagine) recently and found him to be a very interesting artist. Before that I had never even heard of him. Today I managed to get up to London and see the exhibition. All I can say is that I was absolutely blown away by Kiefer's work. His canvases are huge (think David Hockney's 'Tree' canvases) so some rooms only held three paintings. A lady from the art history class had said that the work was dark and she needed a stiff drink afterwards but it didn't have that effect on me. Yes, some of his work deals with the Holocaust and destruction but I found his work fascinating. I'm not normally a lover of dark colour but Kiefer's 'attic' canvases were magnificent. The works are very tactile (if only I could touch them). he does a lot of scraping off of oil paint, he incorporates stalks, sunflowers (he has a thing for sunflowers), electrical wiring, lead, glitter, hay and the paint is laid on as if with a trowel. I adore them!

Anselm Kiefer (installation in courtyard, RA, London)

In display cabinets were large books he made with paintings and on one wall is a display cabinet with a painting of trees and in the foreground he has used twigs and small branches, little house-like boxes. In another room there is the incredible pile of canvases, sunflowers, ash etc. representing the table of geological periods. On two walls facing it are canvases (they look like white chalk drawings) explaining these periods of time. I was thrilled by it.

In the last room the canvases were set out like a wood, screens all held together so you walk through them. It is journey. These are woodcuts of the Rhine. There is an atmosphere in the way these are displayed. Like everything Kiefer seems to do it is unique and brilliant. Kiefer's work looks at ancient stories and sites, religion and the cosmos. Featuring highly was the portrayal of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost giving judgement on the world by positioning three wooden chairs high on the canvas. I laughed when I saw Satan's chair tipped upside down hurtling towards earth. Nice touch. Kiefer also writes on some of his canvases and I like that too. My smattering of German helped but not enough, sadly.

Again something new in another room - sheets of lead on which Kiefer had created his own universe. On one was etched the constellation of Virgo, others had glittery mirror like fragments stuck to them. They looked so like the night sky.

Although Kiefer works mainly with dark colours (browns, blacks) when he does do colour it is brilliant. The paintings of fields with all the stalks and hay also have gold leaf. You really have to see them to get what I mean.

Had I not watched the Imagine programme (which I watched thinking it was something else!) I would never have known about this exhibition. My life would have been poorer for it. That's how I feel. Kiefer's art speaks to me. He is an incredible man. I like his thinking and the way he works. It's also a novelty to me to see the work of an artist who is still alive and working! Some canvasses were only done this year especially for the exhibition.

This time I just had to buy the exhibition book (my Christmas present to myself) along with a set of postcards. But I have to say no picture or postcard can ever capture the texture of these works. They are truly three dimensional. If I sound like I am swooning, I am. Never has my money been so well spent on going to an exhibition. You will never have seen anything like this so I do urge you to go and see it if you can.