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Gideon Kiefer’s world is inhabited by doctors, nurses, scientists, who are all busy conducting bizarre and absurd experiments. Men in uniforms or smart suits, women with stylish hair all play part in Kiefer’s depicted dream. His drawings are adaptations of appropriated images from daily life and literature chosen for their ability to convey the absurdity of existence. The artist draws on the insides of old book covers, torn-out fly-leaves and other old papers, which enhances the sensuality of his work. The scenes are views of a mysterious world, our world. The portrayals whisper something of power and control, but above all an existential powerlessness hovers in the air. Many ideas crop up in Kiefer while he is drawing. They slip into his work in the form of little sketches. It is a complex web of references and associations that points at man’s confused state in today’s society. Purgatory shows miniature drawings from the artist’s Equirectangular Project, a recent series on how we perceive reality and at the same time a research into the artist’s memories. The drawings are presented in what looks like an old interrogation room. A framed picture of the artist as a dictator is hanging above the cell door.
