Photographie

2002 · 2124 — Paris, Yvon Lambert, Coll. « Une rêverie émanée de mes loisirs, VIII », 2002. Un vol. in-4 (30,5 x 23 cm), broché, couverture illustrée, dos toilé titré, boîte d’acier brossé de l'éditeur. ÉDITION ORIGINALE. Collages de cendres et de plomb sur 18 photographies numériques par Anselm Kiefer. Chaque exemplaire composé à la main est sensiblement différent l’un de l’autre. Tirage à 150 exemplaires (N° 48/108 justifié et signé au crayon par l'artiste. Note : Les livres ne se contentent pas d'accompagner la création d'Anselm Kiefer, comme une production secondaire ou un commentaire. Ils y occupent une place centrale en constituant à la fois un lieu d'entrecroisement pour ses autres réalisations (installations et performances, sculptures et gravures, etc.), le creuset d'œuvres à venir ou l'aboutissement de réalisations antérieures. En tant que tels, ils sont un élément essentiel de son travail, un des plus significatifs et des plus fascinants. Bibliographie : Arasse, Anselm Kiefer, p. 47 ; […], Anselm Kiefer. L’alchimie du livre, BNF, 2015. Exemplaire bien signé à l’état de neuf, aucun défaut, les collages de cet exemplaire nominatif sont particulièrement soignés. — (ENGLISH DESCRIPTION) DIE UNGEBORENEN. (Paris, Yvon Lambert 2002). Anselm Kiefer's photographic book / multiple 'Die Ungeborenen': the complete illustrated portfolio of eighteen digital prints with ash and lead collage. Self-wrappered leporello with grey cloth spine, preserved in the original metal box prepared by Christian Chopinaud, with the colophon leaf mounted to the interior of the lid (as issued). Anselm Kiefer's photographic book / multiple 'Die Ungeborenen'. Edition: 150 ex. numbered and signed in pencil by Anselm Kiefer (with a further 20 hors commerce numbered I-XX, ten artist copies numbered 48/108 and signed with pencil by the artist, ten unnumbered nominatives copies, and ten copies from an édition de tête). Justification sheet is pasted to interior of lid. 305 x 230 mm. Printer: Eric Seydoux, Paris (Colophon) Fabricator: Emmanuel Ardant, Paris, Christian Chopinaud (Fabricator of Metal Case). - About the work: 'Die Ungeborenen' (The Unborn) has been a motif in Kiefer's work since the 1970s. Encompassing all of the artist's oeuvre, from painting to sculpture to books (as here), Kiefer has explored the idea of potential in all its forms: potential, i.e. unborn, people, ideas and creative possibilities. To this end, Kiefer has explored a vast mythos including German folklore, philosophy, literature, Jewish myth, Lilith, the first woman, characterised by patriarchy as a demoness and so on. As so often in Kiefer's work, he makes use of lead and ash in this book, applying them directly to his photographs. 'It’s the other aspect of the unborn, the desire of not wanting to be born. Cry of the prophets, the revolt of Job. It would have been better if you had never been born! Everything happens as if it would have been preferable to not be born. The retrograde movement of creation. Theodicy, the accident of creation, God’s regret to have fathered this ungrateful being, this outlaw, who does not abide to the contract.' (Anselm Kiefer). - About the artist: Anselm Kiefer (born in 1945) has established himself as one of the most important post-war German artists. In his works, paintings, sculptures, and installations Kiefer draws from German culture, making more or less explicit references to recent history, literature, philosophy and art. Kiefer’s Die Ungeborenen combines figurative motives with an abstract background. The artist uses narrative elements—the dresses, numbers, and branches—to evocate the demon Lilith, a figure from Jewish folklore, who was believed to kidnap newborn children. The dresses without bodies, and the adjacent numbers, are also a reminder of the Holocaust. In his work, Kiefer frequently offers a reading of recent history through mythological or classic figures, in this case Lilith. He uses the abstraction of the background not per se, but to demonstrate the universality of his approach; the unborn and the ones who lost their lives are like stars in the infinite sky, countless, yet always on our mind. (Literature: Daniel Arasse, Anselm Kiefer (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2001), 16-17, 19, ill). More pictures on request.