Anselm Kiefer, Bookbinder
Myrtis by Anslem Kiefer, from his Women of Antiquity series.
The Art Gallery of New South Wales owns this series of three sculptures. The notes on the wall say that Kiefer has depicted women from mythology “whose strength and intelligence have been seen as unruly or cause for demonisation, for example Pandora and Lilith.”
This is Myrtis who “came to a bad end for competing with men”. She was a Greek poet blamed for competing with Pindar and has a book instead of a head.
Close up the work is an astonishingly fine feat of bookbinding. The spine is strong and aligned, despite having been cracked open for millenia and the lead pages ripple like velvety bond.
