English
One of the most important conceptual artists, and father of the modern “alchemy,” Anselm Kiefer presents his new installation “Salt of the Heart” at La Fondazione Emilio e Annabianca Vedova, on until the 30th of November. Kiefer is without a doubt one of the most important conceptual artists alive today. He´s also a pioneer of reinventing the use of alchemy in the plastic arts.
Born in Donaueschingen, Germany in 1945, he studied painting with Peter Dreher and Horst, and later in Düsseldorf, where he was student of Joseph Beuys. His persistent thirst for knowledge also took him to study law and French.
If his beginnings were in a more purist style of painting, he soon became interested in the world of installation and “happenings,” and his personal style quickly transformed. His first one-man show was in 1969, with a series of paintings called “Occupations.”
Kiefer´s work has been described by critics as a kind of experimental poem, with an aesthetic quality which transmutes, and mixes things up together with a controversial edge, casting a critical eye over reality, and the history of the world. The artist pays particular attention to ways in which the history of his country have been revised, and its past relationship with Nazism. A clear example of this is his work based on the poems written by Paul Celan during his imprisonment in Nazi concentration camps.
Here, Celan´s work, “Todesfuge”, with its recollections of a traumatic process, is transformed into a spectacular canvas, titled “Margarethe” (1980). Also a key, visible part of Kiefer´s work are themes such as mysticism, philosophy, literature, and the cosmos.
Kiefer´s work bases itself on the so-called material painting, the line of abstract painting, created from organic material such as sand, ash, wood, metal, plaster and glass. Time, and nature has interesting, unexpected effects on these kinds of materials.
Works which particularly demonstrate the artist´s mastery include The Order of the Angels (1984), The Milky Way (1985), and Ecological Niches (1992), all of which refer to his special interests and pursuits, illustrating the tireless creative mind behind them.
The magnetism of Kiefer´s work has brought him to participate regularly in Documenta de Kassel (1977, 1982 and 1987), and the Venice Bienale (1980), and his work also hangs in the permanent collections of galleries such as the Bilbao Guggenheim, and the Pompiduo in Paris.
The piece on show at the Fondazione Emilio e Annabianca Vedova, “Salt of the Heart,” is an installation in which Kiefer attempts to find some resolution in his investigation into alchemical processes of different materials, positing a metaphor for the human search for perfection.
For Kiefer, the eternal search of humanity for perfection clearly resembles the processes of alchemy in pursuit of gold.
For more information: http://www.fondazionevedova.org/en/mostra/anselm-kiefer-salt-hearth
Nancy Guzman
If your having a good time renting apartments in Venice don´t miss out on the chance to experience the work of Anselm Kiefer, one of the most creative contemporary artists, at the Fondazione Emilio e Annabianca Vedova.
Translated by: Poppy
