Anselm Kiefer (n. 8 martie 1945, Donaueschingen) pictor i sculptor german.

- se numr printre cei mai cunoscui i apreciai artiti plastici germani de dup cel de-al
Doilea Rzboi Mondial. Operele sale au fost expuse n cele mai prestigioase expoziii
internaionale, ca de exemplu documenta 6,7 i 8 din Kassel, Bienala din Veneia
(pavilionul german din 1980) i n multe muzee din Europa, Japonia i Statele Unite.

Kiefer a studiat artele ntre altele, la Karlsruhe cu Horst Antes i la Dsseldorf cu Joseph
Beuys. Cu Beuys el mprtete predilecia pentru materiale n general depreciate, mai
ales cenu i plumb, uneori elac, clei, snge, paie i alte materiale vegetale, pe care le
utilizeaz n mai multe straturi n picturi monumentale, sculpturi i instalaii. i-a nceput
cariera printr-un scandal, cnd s-a fotografiat n cadrul unor turnee de Art performances
prin orae europene, purtnd nite vetminte hilare i gesticulnd salutul nazist. Lucrrile
sale ulterioare au fost puternic influenate de teme din istoria i cultura german, de la
Btlia lui Varus i pn la nazism, culminnd cu Holocaustul i distrugerea culturii
evreieti din Germania. Kiefer este considerat un nnoitor al picturii istorice i un mare
ilustrator artistic al catastrofelor din istorie.

Miturile tradiionale, crile i bibliotecile fac parte din subiectele i sursele sale favorite
de inspiraie. n anii de mijloc ai activitii sale artistice, a fost influenat de opera unor
scriitori i poei ca Paul Celan i Ingeborg Bachmann.

Militant mpotriva xenofobiei de orice fel, artistul german i-a ales ca tem predilect de
manifestare Holocaustul. Talentul i oportunitatea temei i-au adus foarte muli bani astfel
nct, n acest moment, este unul dintre cei mai bogai artiti din lume. Att de bogat nct
este singurul n stare s dicteze marilor negustori ai pieei mondiale de art care, la
rndul lor, sunt marii manipulatori ai acestei piee.
Din 1992 s-a stabilit n sudul Franei, la Barjac, unde are un atelier imens, de 35 de
hectare. n 2008 s-a mutat, cu arme i bagaje (110 autocamioane de mare tonaj) la
marginea Parisului, unde i-a deschis un spaiu asemntor (fr s-l vnd pe cel de la
Barjac).

DW A. SORA/Petra Lambeck Operele artistului german Anselm Kiefer sunt o revolt

mpotriva uitrii colective. Werner Spies, un cunoscut expert german n istoria artei, a
subliniat n discursul rostit cu ocazia decernrii premiului n ultima zi a Trgului de Carte
din Frankfurt c nu exist nici un alt artist n Republica Federal care a abordat istoria
ntr-un mod att de curajos.

Anselm Kiefer trateaz perioada nazist n multe dintre creaiile sale, motiv pentru care a
ocat publicul n repetate rnduri - deja de la prima sa apariie public de rang
internaional, la Bienala de la Veneia din 1980. nainte, nici un artist nu ndrznise s
nfieze ruinele unor cldiri de tip nazist sau motive din mitologia nordic. Kiefer a
explicat n acest sens:

"Dup rzboi, interesul pentru mitologie a creat suspiciuni generale. Era evident ct de
periculoas poate fi instrumentalizarea miturilor de ctre politic, folosirea acestora drept
model de aciune i justificare. Dar nu este, oare, i mai periculos ca miturile s se
ascund n subcontientul oamenilor, n loc s ne ocupm mai departe de ele ntr-un mod
transparent pentru toat lumea?"

Trecutul se afl n centrul operei lui Anselm Kiefer. Potrivit artistului, resturile cldirilor
distruse n cel de-al doilea rzboi mondial au fost adunate mult prea rapid n Germania. i
dup reunificare, totul pare s se fi uitat mult prea repede, consider Kiefer:

"Spaiul dintre cele dou foste state i sisteme ar fi trebuit s rmn gol, iar aa-numita
"fie a morii" ar trebui s fie cultivat ca o grdin n stil zen. S-ar fi putut pstra un
spaiu gol, un fel de spaiu unde istoria s fie lsat s mediteze, unde oamenii s-ar fi
adncit n propriul suflet."

Un exemplu marcant pentru un astfel de spaiu este Potsdamer Platz din Berlin. Pe
vremuri, surprindea prin ceea ce Anselm Kiefer numete "o pustietate melancolic", n
timp ce astzi este caracterizat printr-o aglomeraie de cldiri moderne.

"Dac acest spaiu ar fi rmas aa cum a fost, ar fi devenit un minunat loc al pustietii,
plin de istorie", a declarat Anselm Kiefer la ceremonia de decernare a Premiului pentru
Pace al Librarilor Germani, care s-a desfurat pe 19 octombrie la Paulskirche, n ultima
zi a Trgului de Carte din Frankfurt. Aceast lupt perpetu mpotriva uitrii reprezint
principalul motiv pentru care juriul l-a ales pe Anselm Kiefer ca laureat al prestigiosului
premiu.

Anselm Kiefer critically engages with myth and memory, referencing totems of German
culture and collective history. Germans want to forget [the past] and start a new thing all
the time, but only by going into the past can you go into the future, he says. Revealing
the influence of his tutelage under Joseph Beuys, Kiefer's epic-scaled, dense sculptures
and paintings are often exposed to elements like acid and fire, and incorporate materials
such as lead, burned books, concrete, thorny branches, ashes, and clothing; famed critic
and historian Simon Schama has described his work as heavy-load maximalism.
Kiefers vast-ranging references have included the Black Forest, Richard Wagners Ring
Cycle, and Caspar David Friedrichs Romantic landscapes, as well as Kabbalah
mysticism, Cold War politics, National Socialist architecture, and Paul Celans seminal
body of post-Holocaust poetry. Art is difficult, he says. Its not entertainment.

German, b. 1945, Donauschingen, Germany, based in France

Anselm Kiefer A Monograph
Dominique Baqu

Description

The work of Anselm Kiefer begins with a crucial question: how, after the Holocaust, can
one be an artist within the German tradition? Born at the end of the Second World War,
Kiefers career represents a quasi-existential quest to redefine Germanness.

This new monograph will examine the foundation of Kiefers work: memory and our
response to it. Kiefers artistic perspective is informed in turn by great literary works,
myths, tales, legends, and particularly the world of Kabbalistic mysticism. This
unprecedented monograph explores his passion for alchemy, his admiration for great
female figures obscured by history, and his relationship with the landscape and nature, a
notable topic of his most recent works.

Art historian Dominique Baque also highlights an aspect of Kiefers work that has
received little critical attention: his conceptual understanding of the book and
photography. In fact, Kiefer mixes many forms and media, and Baqu expands this study
with a discussion of the often-overlooked performance element of his work, starting with
his first actions from the end of the 1960s.

kiefer has been an avid student throughout his life and the breadth of his
studies is evident in his work. He initially studied law and then went on to
study art at the Dusseldorf Karlsruhe Academy, under the professorship of
Joseph Beuys. Kiefer has accumulated a wealth of knowledge about the
ancient and modern worlds including Teutonic history, Gnosticism, Mysticism,
Jewish Kabbalistic lore, philosophy, political theory and Alchemy. He has also
travelled extensively.
The preservation of knowledge is an important theme for Kiefer, who inscribes
words in the form of poetry, quotes, names and tributes to the works of other
artists on his paintings and sculptures. In an interview with the artist, Michael
Auping observed that the orientation of his works only becomes fixed
when he writes on the canvas. Kiefer replied that his writing is an attempt to
fix a moment or place to suggest a fixed state, but the imagery denies, it is
active.
In Kiefers work knowledge is contained within the protective lead covers of
books which are stacked in sculpted bookshelves. As a German artist born in
1945, just before the end of World War II, Kiefer is pre-occupied with his own
recent history and the Nazi regime, under which many books were denied or
destroyed.
History and memory
A great deal has been written about Kiefers relationship to the Holocaust,
particularly in his early work which focused heavily on the exploration of
German identity. Like the poets Ingeborg Bachman and Paul Celan who have
influenced his work, Kiefer grappled with the problem expressed by Adorno
in the statement: After Auschwitz to write a poem is barbaric. ii
The ephemeral nature of many of the materials that Kiefer uses challenges
the mythology of permanence that was propagated through the art and archit
ecture of Fascism. Kiefer is also concerned with the dangers of looking only to
the future after the holocaust, and what he sees as a collective German
amnesia:
After the misfortune as we all name it so euphemistically now, people
thought that in 1945 we were starting all over again...its nonsense. The past
was put under taboo and to dig it up again generates resistance and disgust.
iii
Like an archaeologist, Kiefers response to history, memory and myth is to dig
up items from the recent past and lay them carefully alongside other, more
ancient findings. His landscapes are layered with fragments of visual
remembering which span millenniums and encompass the cosmos, without
the imposition of chronological order.
I would argue that the way for conservators to consider such work is as a
whole: to consider how the individual components interact to create an overall
effect. No single material or element on the canvas has more intrinsic value
than any other, regardless of its history, associations or placement.

Work at Kiefers three studios:

The progression of Kiefers art since the 1970s can be viewed within the
context of his thee studios and their surroundings. They have been used like
stages for his work and are hives of artistic and architectural activity.
Odenwald, Germany
At the end of 1971, Kiefer acquired an attic above an old school house, deep
in the forest of Odenwald. Here he produced paintings using charcoal that he
made by burning wood from the forests surrounding his studio. He depicted
the attic in paintings of different scales in order to explore the themes of
nature, religion, myth, culture and politics.
References and meaning are more explicit here than in later paintings, often
employing text inscribed on the surface of the work to identify his sources.
The Parsifal Cycle paintings, which explore the myth of Parsifal and the Holy
Grail, are staged in Kiefers own attic setting and tested against more recent
events, such as the violent acts of the Bader Meinhof.