A pencil on photograph work by Kiefer from "Die Argonauten", 1990/2010 (Courtesy Anselm Kiefer/Gallery Thaddaeus Ropac/Ivorypress)
Anselm Kiefer is the latest artist to work with the Ivorypress to product a stunning artist book, following the success of artist books by Gerhard Richter and Richard Long.
As the third volume to be produced in the LiberArs series, Kiefer has created a publication called
Die Argonauten: Anselm Kiefer
that takes another look at the Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts. As an art project, Kiefer has been working on this subject matter for the best part of 20 years, and now the works that fill the pages of the book are on show in Madrid at the
Ivorypress Art space.
The works on display in the exhibition, which is entitled Anselm Kiefer, Die Argonauten, after the book, are all works of pencil on top of photographs and they track the tale of Jason as he makes his way through the obstacles before him as he searches for the Golden Fleece.
Ivorypress founder, Elena Ochoa Foster, wife of architect Norma Foster, first met Kiefer while he was working in Barjac in the South of France, and came to form a relationship through which the idea of this artist book flourished.
The 27 works in the series that make up Die Argonauten have been described by Kiefer as "trivial and everyday in context", saying that "banality is the best starting point for making your own discoveries and I think the insignificant is more meaningful for the observer."
As well as offering up these great photographs by Kiefer, the book also includes text by the artist that takes the reader into the processes and thoughts that were floating around as Kiefer put this whole project together.