The earliest works in the exhibition, from the late 1960s, attest to the manner in which Kiefer has worked with the conviction that art could heal a traumatised nation and a divided world. Since the 1980s his focus has expanded from that of Germany’s role in civilisation to the fate of art and culture in general, opening out to include ideas of national identity and collective memory, but also occult symbolism, theology and mysticism. The exhibition includes more recent works that address some of these themes. In the words of historian Simon Schama, they present ‘a resonant meditation on the instability of built grandeur.’

To celebrate the Anselm Kiefer ARTIST ROOMS exhibition, MOSTYN presented a unique illustrated and free-to-attend conversation between Anthony d’Offay and Amy Dickson, the collection’s Managing Curator, in February 2012.