Anselm Kiefer
(GERMAN，B.1945)
The Raft
Executed in 1991 lead，photograph and clay 139.7×101.6cm
Provenance:
Acquired directly from the artist‘s studio
Private Collection，United States

Born in 1945 in southern Germany during the final days of the collapse of the Third Reich，Anselm Kiefer experienced divided postwar Germany firsthand. Across his body of work，Kiefer argues with history，addressing controversial and even taboo issues from recent events with bold directness and lyricism.
Kiefer often builds his imagery on top of photographs，layering his massive canvases with dirt，lead，straw，and other materials that generate a “ground” that reads literally of the earth itself. Within these thick，impastoed surfaces Kiefer embeds textual or symbolic references to historic figures or places； these become encoded signals through which Kiefer invokes and processes history.
This work is a reference to Gericault’s The Raft of the Medusa，which is a tool for survival，as well as an ironic play on nuclear energy. Kiefer has always been interested in the alchemy of nuclear power and the manipulation of the elements to create energy. Thinking back to his most important influence，Joseph Beuys，the idea of “batteries of power” was created through stacking materials on top of each other. Beuys sculptures，stacks of felt or felt and copper or just copper，represented sources of heat or conductivity.
Kiefer is drawn to various，and often unusual，media for their symbolic potency. Using lead in this work has resonance for the artist both in terms of medium and a subject matter. As the base material used in alchemy，he considers it the only material heavy enough to bear the burden of history.

来源：
美国 私人收藏
原藏家购自艺术家工作室

废墟，对于我，是新的开始。有了这些残骸，你可以架构新的思想。它们是新生的象征。- 安塞尔姆·基弗
出生于1945年德国南部的安塞尔姆·基弗（Anselm Kiefer），目睹了第三帝国时代走向奔溃的最后时刻，并亲自见证了战后的德国是如何在这废墟之上步步走向分裂的过程。基弗通过他的作品洞察历史并与之隔空对话，用大胆直接却悲悯诗意的笔调探讨了近代史上一幕幕充满争议甚至沦为禁忌的过往。
基弗的画作时常以影像为基底，在此基础之上，他在巨幅画布上大量层叠使用粘土、板上铅、稻草等材料来表现“大地”这一意象—如此充满力量感的画面肌理本身就能强烈地调动观者对于“大地”的意识共鸣。同时，观者通过这些标记按图索骥之下不难发现：无论是基弗对这段历史的深刻反思还是他晦涩的使命感，早已被他用或抽像或具象的创作表达嵌入在这厚重充满压倒性的绘涂之中。
“救生筏”这件作品中涉及到的主体救生筏，在法国画家西奥多·杰利柯的作品“梅杜萨之筏”之中被用作求生的工具，在基弗的这件作品中也被暗讽为一种对核能的复杂情绪。基弗一直对核能炼金术和人为操纵金属元素来创作能量这一理念颇感兴趣。约瑟夫·博伊斯曾是弗基创作生涯中极具重要影响力的艺术家之一，他的关于“电力电池”的想法便是通过堆叠材料从而相互创造能量；因此，博伊斯制作了成堆的毛毡制品、毛毡与铜制品、或铜制品—它们被认为是热源或者一种电导效应的代表。
由于它们极具代表性的能量场，弗基也总被各种各样同时并不寻常的媒介所吸引。铅便引发了艺术家对于创作媒介和创作主体的共鸣思考。它作为炼金术中的基础材料，也同时被弗基认为是唯一具有历史厚重感并能够担负起艺术家对于历史的反省和思考的物质。