ANSELM KIEFER, his quotes on painting art & sculpture by the artist focused on German history; + biography
Anselm Kiefer (born: 1945), his quotes on painting art and life by the German painter and sculptor. He studied with artist quotes by Joseph Beuys and during the 1970s. Kiefer’s painting art is well known of characteristic materials such as straw, clay, lead, oil paint and shellac. The poet Celan have played an important role in developing Kiefer’s themes of German history and the Holocaust, as have the spiritual concepts of Kabbalah. Themes from Nazi history are particularly reflected in his art.
* At the bottom biography facts & art links for the German artist Anselm Kiefer.
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Anselm Kiefer: Wege VII, 1978 |
Anselm Kiefer, his artist quotes on painting, German history and art
On the one hand Europe has lost its class structure on the other hand an on-going transformation has taken place due to the American influence on Europe after World War II in the realms of technology and the media. Kounellis (European colleague-artist of Anselm Kiefer, well known, fh) says that America has no culture, but I believe that it does and that its culture is predicated on the media: a tradition of media and information. Europe has a culture with a tradition of history… .
* quote by Kiefer, source: ‘Structures are no longer valid’, in ‘Ein Gespräch’, ed. Jaqueline Burckhardt, Parkett Verlag, Zurich, 1986 (painter / sculptor of the German after-war; famous for his paintings; links for more biography facts and images of his art at the bottom)
– Kandinsky was connected with the Brücke and the Blue rider: they had a concept and created a reality. But I prefer Fautrier (Kiefer mentions here the French painter-artist circa 1940 – 1965, fh) with his suffering and self-absorption. And his purpose on bringing about changes was just as strong. As a result I see in Fautrier a stronger paradigm than in Kandinsky…
* quote source: ‘Structures are no longer valid’, in ‘Ein Gespräch’, ed. Jaqueline Burckhardt, Parkett Verlag, Zurich, 1986
– I perceive existentialism as a necessity of decision. This is the essential aspect of existentialism and simultaneously the most subversive factor…
* Anselm Kiefer, quote source: ‘Structures are no longer valid’, in ‘Ein Gespräch’, ed. Jaqueline Burckhardt, Parkett Verlag, Zurich, 1986
– Perspective and Impressionism were tentative attempts to deal with the world of appearance because of a fear to look inside. Cubism is structure and order. Now both epidermis and order are no longer possible… …The accidental aspects of Impressionist composition are to be understood as a reaction. And the reaction of Cézanne is to be seen as a response to Impressionism. One cannot simply disregard Impressionism. As a dialectic antithesis it was important. The Impressionists had the idea of dissolution; they wanted to represent light, not bodies and not shadows, but light for itself. Frequently I find this tedious, but there is an idea behind it: Atomization is a modern idea…
* Anselm Kiefer, his quote: ‘Structures are no longer valid’, in ‘Ein Gespräch’, ed. Jaqueline Burckhardt, Parkett Verlag, Zurich, 1986
– Mondrian began with his paintings of the seashore, with blue trees and the cathedral. These paintings were totally symbolist paintings… …until the very end ( unlike Van Doesburg and other de Stijl-artists, ed.) Mondrian remains a Symbolist and an Expressionist…
* quote source: ‘Structures are no longer valid’, in ‘Ein Gespräch’, ed. Jaqueline Burckhardt, Parkett Verlag, Zurich, 1986
– I do not believe that there is an external element to be disrupted now. The situation is different from the period of the Dadaists. There is nothing to overthrow now, because everything has been co-opted. To be subversive now in the sense of Dadaism would be reactionary, because now it would be the attitude of model students…
* quote source: ‘Structures are no longer valid’, in ‘Ein Gespräch’, ed. Jaqueline Burckhardt, Parkett Verlag, Zurich, 1986
– In 1968 the end of art was announced, but this was for political reasons and for the wrong reasons. At that time it was believed that as long as there were only formal relationships, one did not have to deal with a luxury such as art…
* Anselm Kiefer, quote source: ‘Structures are no longer valid’, in ‘Ein Gespräch’, ed. Jaqueline Burckhardt, Parkett Verlag, Zurich, 1986
– When I went to school there was Pop Art. The Americans dismissed us from our responsibilities. They mailed us Care packages and Democracy. The search for our own identity was postponed. After the ‘time of misfortune’ as it has been called euphemistically, one thought in 1946 to begin anew. Even now we talk about the ‘Point Zero’. But that is not possible; this is nonsense. The past is tabulated because to confront it would necessitate denial and disgust…
* source: ‘Structures are no longer valid’, in ‘Ein Gespräch (mit Anselm Kiefer’), ed. Jaqueline Burckhardt, Parkett Verlag, Zurich, 1986
– The Germans always had difficulties with their identity. Either it was too much and too loud, or it was hidden and too subservient. The French always had a healthy self-confidence. When they spoke of a “grande nation” it was not dangerous. De Gaulle could say on Martinique: ‘Behind me is the ocean. In front of me is France..’.
* artist quote Kiefer: ‘Structures are no longer valid’, in ‘Ein Gespräch’, ed. Jaqueline Burckhardt, Parkett Verlag, Zurich, 1986
– There is a reciprocal action between the work of art and the viewer. The river changes the work of art and criticism can also change the artist… …There are so many ideas afloat; any of them could have triggered the work of art. It is impossible to determine exactly if the idea has been transmitted by the critic, or if the work itself has determined its outcome…
* Anselm Kiefer, quote source: ‘Structures are no longer valid’, in ‘Ein Gespräch’, ed. Jaqueline Burckhardt, Parkett Verlag, Zurich, 1986
– I am only able to do what stirs me. I want to perceive with my senses things which at the moment are not generally perceived. I do not share, as yet, artist quotes by Joseph Beuys ’s consciousness or hope that all people are moving to a certain point where they all become artists. I am of the opinion that there are artists and non-artists. I think that this is the way it always was and always will be. I do not believe that we are in the center of the world. It is possible that there are gods who do not relate to human. As an artist, I believe that it is possible to depict these forces. I know it sounds absurd when I say that man can perceive some things and adumbrate powers, which do not relate to him. But perhaps the artist, unlike the non-artist, is able to do just that…
* Kiefer, quote from: ‘Structures are no longer valid’, in ‘Ein Gespräch’, ed. Jaqueline Burckhardt, Parkett Verlag, Zurich, 1986
– I want to say something about Picasso as a revolutionary. A revolution in the history of art is a reflection of the history of society. Art cannot revolutionize society. It is a reflection of that revolution… …You (is Joseph Beuys, fh) have revolutionized art. But I do not see that you have revolutionized society directly. You have depicted what has not yet existed… …art and life are not two separate realms, but they have shifted out of phase with each other…
* his artist quote on the modern perception and use of colors in Futurism: ‘Manifesto of Futurist Painters’, Boccioni, Carrà, Russolo, 1912;
– Why have our standards fallen so low? Why do we have all these ugly things which nobody needs? Industrial manufacture and new materials have led to truly unlimited possibilities of forms. There are no longer any natural constraints which depend on materials such as wood and stone. We simply manufacture everything that is technically possible and lack new structures on which to base our decisions…
* Anselm Kiefer, quote source: ‘Structures are no longer valid’, in ‘Ein Gespräch’, ed. Jaqueline Burckhardt, Parkett Verlag, Zurich, 1986
– Until the artist is dead, we are not able to determine his work in all its dimensions
* Anselm Kiefer, quote source: ‘Structures are no longer valid’, in ‘Ein Gespräch’, ed. Jaqueline Burckhardt, Parkett Verlag, Zurich, 1986
Art links for more information and biography facts of Anselm Kiefer; German painter artist after World War 2
* information about life and art of the German painter artist Anselm Kiefer, on Wikipedia
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