ANSELM KIEFER: SALT OF THE EARTH, text by Germano Celant

Skira, 2012, First edition, 336 pp., 9 3/4" X 11 1/4", Hardcover

Fine

Published on the occasion of Anselm Kiefer: Salt of the Earth, 1 June - 30 November 2011 at Fondazione Emilio e Annabianca Vedova, Venezia

The title "Salt of the Earth" refers to Anselm Kiefer’s interest in the alchemical process, representing the aspiration of a human being to an almost golden perfection of existence. According to the artist, in order to awake from the past and find a new spiritual dimension, a person has to pass through various stages of mutation; art is an instrument to facilitate this step and rebirth. For this reason, in his paintings and sculptures, Kiefer makes use of symbolic materials and processes like lead and electrolysis, gold and salt, which in ancient tradition were used for a metaphorical transformation of self.