All Stories of Heaven Begin on Earth: Analysing the Material Spirituality of Anselm Kiefer

Hazel Shaw
Trinity College Dublin
Department of History of Art and Architecture
2015
BA

Subject: Painting, Installation and Mixed Media
Country: Germany
Century: 20th and 21st Century

10,000 words

This dissertation examines the work of Anselm Kiefer (b. 1945), a German artist whose work engages with an ontological individual and national identity in the aftermath of the Second World War. These issues of identity are explored by Kiefer in terms of history, myth and spirituality. Primarily concerned with the artist’s interpretation and communication of ‘spirituality’ in a post-modern context, this thesis is organised into three foci. The first is a study of the psychology of grief after a war which is shown in the visual arts in 20th century Germany. The second focus is a study of the significance of Kiefer’s materials and artistic processes with regard to alchemical transformation and the role of the artist in a universal search for transcendence. Finally, this work will look at the extent to which Kiefer’s oeuvre is a spriritual journey.

Irish Georgian Society

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All Stories of Heaven Begin on Earth: Analysing the Material Spirituality of Anselm Kiefer