I visited Milan in September to see the Anselm Keifer Exhibition and was not disappointed. The exhibition was visually stunning, with 42 colossal paintings arranged in curving rows across the floor of the Palazzo Reale.
The Anselm Keifer exhibition was about the visionary role that women have played in the intellectual and scientific history of Europe through the Middle Ages. As a woman, it was a powerful statement. To walk around these towering figures of women who have been marginalised and persecuted throughout history, was quite overwhelming.
Anselm Keifer takes an alchemist’s approach to his art, working with gold and silver leaf and an array of industrial and organic elements to create a story that slowly unfolds. The result was a stunning visual experience, with each artwork displaying a depth of colour and texture that camouflaged, then slowly revealed, the figure underneath.
The Anselm Keifer exhibition was an experience I won’t easily forget and left me with a desire to honour the women alchemists of the past, and those that are yet to come.
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