Anselm Kiefer in Venice exhibits a series of new works in an installation of site-specific paintings in dialogue with one of the most important spaces of the Doge's Palace, the Sala dello Scrutinio , and with the history of Venice .

"Sometimes it happens that there is a convergence between past and present moments, and when they meet one experiences something similar to immobility in the hollow of the wave that is about to break. Having originated in the past but belonging to something deep down. more than it, these moments are as much part of the present as of the past, and what they generate is very important. " Anselm Kiefer

Palazzo Ducale has welcomed generations of artists including Giovanni Bellini , Vittore Carpaccio, Tiziano , Veronese , Tintoretto and many others. The monumental space of the Sala dello Scrutinio, the seat designated for the election of the Doge, is richly decorated with paintings that celebrate the power of the Serenissima Republic of Venice.

Philosophical and literary references have always been central to the understanding of Anselm Kiefer's work. The exhibition takes the title These writings, when burned, will finally give some light from the words of the Venetian philosopher Andrea Emo (1901-1983), whose writings Kiefer met six years ago. Kiefer's artistic method has deep consonances with Andrea Emo's philosophical thought.

In the installation at Palazzo Ducale, Kiefer also reflects on the unique position of Venice, located between North and South, and on its interaction between East and West, finding equally significant connections between the different cultures, the history of the city and the text of the tragic work by Goethe Faust: Second part (1832).