Anselm Kiefer is the primary exponent of German Neo-Expressionism and one of the most important living contemporary artists. German Neo-Expressionism began in the 1960s; its rise coincided with the end of modernism, extending the long-standing European tradition of painting. For a time in the 1980s, the movement sparked discussions about the return of the painting. Based on German Expressionism, Neo-Expressionism focused on history and reality, promoted the rebirth of painting, and broke through the primacy of Pop Art, Minimalism, and abstract art, to become one of the primary forms in Western art.
Kiefer works in media such as painting, sculpture, installation, and photography, but he manages to transcend the existing forms of every medium. His work has an epic quality in both scale and subject matter. He directly confronted a dark period in German history, unearthing taboos hidden inside collective memory and weaving them with deep reflections on Germanic legend, worldviews, and beliefs. He has the extraordinary ability to master intense emotions and serious themes, and his work has made a significant contribution to the rebirth of Western art. In 1980, he and Georg Baselitz represented Germany at the 39th Venice Biennale.
When viewers first encounter Kiefer’s work, they are drawn to the intense, and even shocking, visual effects. The grand, glorious, and dignified spaces in his work have immense visual power. Apart from the sheer size of the works, this power largely comes from the appropriation, transformation, and expression of materiality. Lead, steel, earth, cement, water, ash, photosensitive emulsion, stone, tar, plastic, branches, dried flowers, wheat stalks, paper, and photographs construct the works. Kiefer once said, “I treat painting as a material experience.” He has also said, “I think the spirit exists in the material,” and “when I use straw or lead, I discover their spirits, and I refine them and present them.”
Kiefer does not stop at the visual level; he guides us into the depths of collective history and individual memory. In a recent discussion at the Getty, Kiefer said, “I know a lot about history, but when I see a landscape, I cannot see it as innocent, or without remnants or traces of wars or other things, so the landscape is, for me, not pure landscape. Never.” His works explore issues of war, nationality, collective consciousness, culture, myth, and legend. He re-awakens reflection on these issues using a variety of methods, striking a nerve in collective national memory. One commentator noted, “He works to confront Nazi terror, as well as German history, culture, and legend, and he hopes to heal the blows dealt with German idealism and helped to revive it.” Anselm Kiefer was the first plastic artist to receive the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, an award that recognizes individuals who have contributed to the ideal of peace through their outstanding activities in literature, science, or art. The jury lauded Kiefer as an artist “who has consistently sought to confront us with a disturbing moral message of that which is ruinous and volatile.”
Anselm Kiefer’s relationship to Chinese contemporary art is very profound. Kiefer’s work entered China when the ’85 New Wave was at its peak, and rational and critical thought was being introduced. By the early 1990s, Kiefer had already been widely recognized by the Chinese art world. In 1992, Kiefer came to China and stayed for three months. He traveled from Beijing to Xi’an, then he went to Xinjiang and took the southern Silk Road to Pakistan and India. After more than 20 years, Kiefer’s work will finally be exhibited in China. Collisions between art historical research and the concepts, epistemologies, and methodologies of contemporary art, as well as the understanding, consideration, and reflection of history and reality, will cause great reactions and shocks. With the CAFA Art Museum as the first stop in this tour, we hope to use this opportunity to interpret and study Kiefer’s work from the perspectives of Chinese history and art, in order to help and promote Chinese contemporary culture and art and establish a sense of artistic responsibility among Chinese contemporary artists.
This exhibition was jointly organized by Bell Art Center and the Central Academy of Fine Arts, the CAFA Art Museum, the School of Art and Design at Tsinghua University, Yiming Dongfang Culture and Media Co., Ltd., and Baijiahu International Cultural Investment Group. This exhibition has finally become a reality only after many months of hard work from all of these institutions. In addition to the exhibition, “Anselm Kiefer Coagulation” will feature a symposium, a series of academic lectures, a themed open day, and other academic and public education events. An exhibition catalog and a collection of scholarly articles will also be published.
Anselm Kiefer is the primary exponent of German Neo-Expressionism and one of the most important living contemporary artists. German Neo-Expressionism began in the 1960s; its rise coincided with the end of modernism, extending the long-standing European tradition of painting. For a time in the 1980s, the movement sparked discussions about the return of the painting. Based on German Expressionism, Neo-Expressionism focused on history and reality, promoted the rebirth of painting, and broke through the primacy of Pop Art, Minimalism, and abstract art, to become one of the primary forms in Western art.
Kiefer works in media such as painting, sculpture, installation, and photography, but he manages to transcend the existing forms of every medium. His work has an epic quality in both scale and subject matter. He directly confronted a dark period in German history, unearthing taboos hidden inside collective memory and weaving them with deep reflections on Germanic legend, worldviews, and beliefs. He has the extraordinary ability to master intense emotions and serious themes, and his work has made a significant contribution to the rebirth of Western art. In 1980, he and Georg Baselitz represented Germany at the 39th Venice Biennale.
When viewers first encounter Kiefer’s work, they are drawn to the intense, and even shocking, visual effects. The grand, glorious, and dignified spaces in his work have immense visual power. Apart from the sheer size of the works, this power largely comes from the appropriation, transformation, and expression of materiality. Lead, steel, earth, cement, water, ash, photosensitive emulsion, stone, tar, plastic, branches, dried flowers, wheat stalks, paper, and photographs construct the works. Kiefer once said, “I treat painting as a material experience.” He has also said, “I think the spirit exists in the material,” and “when I use straw or lead, I discover their spirits, and I refine them and present them.”
Kiefer does not stop at the visual level; he guides us into the depths of collective history and individual memory. In a recent discussion at the Getty, Kiefer said, “I know a lot about history, but when I see a landscape, I cannot see it as innocent, or without remnants or traces of wars or other things, so the landscape is, for me, not pure landscape. Never.” His works explore issues of war, nationality, collective consciousness, culture, myth, and legend. He re-awakens reflection on these issues using a variety of methods, striking a nerve in collective national memory. One commentator noted, “He works to confront Nazi terror, as well as German history, culture, and legend, and he hopes to heal the blows dealt with German idealism and helped to revive it.” Anselm Kiefer was the first plastic artist to receive the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, an award that recognizes individuals who have contributed to the ideal of peace through their outstanding activities in literature, science, or art. The jury lauded Kiefer as an artist “who has consistently sought to confront us with a disturbing moral message of that which is ruinous and volatile.”
Anselm Kiefer’s relationship to Chinese contemporary art is very profound. Kiefer’s work entered China when the ’85 New Wave was at its peak, and rational and critical thought was being introduced. By the early 1990s, Kiefer had already been widely recognized by the Chinese art world. In 1992, Kiefer came to China and stayed for three months. He traveled from Beijing to Xi’an, then he went to Xinjiang and took the southern Silk Road to Pakistan and India. After more than 20 years, Kiefer’s work will finally be exhibited in China. Collisions between art historical research and the concepts, epistemologies, and methodologies of contemporary art, as well as the understanding, consideration, and reflection of history and reality, will cause great reactions and shocks. With the CAFA Art Museum as the first stop in this tour, we hope to use this opportunity to interpret and study Kiefer’s work from the perspectives of Chinese history and art, in order to help and promote Chinese contemporary culture and art and establish a sense of artistic responsibility among Chinese contemporary artists.
This exhibition was jointly organized by Bell Art Center and the Central Academy of Fine Arts, the CAFA Art Museum, the School of Art and Design at Tsinghua University, Yiming Dongfang Culture and Media Co., Ltd., and Baijiahu International Cultural Investment Group. This exhibition has finally become a reality only after many months of hard work from all of these institutions. In addition to the exhibition, “Anselm Kiefer Coagulation” will feature a symposium, a series of academic lectures, a themed open day, and other academic and public education events. An exhibition catalog and a collection of scholarly articles will also be published.
