Anselm Kiefer (b. 1945)

“For Kiefer, art is an opening-up between order and chaos, between human and natural, between individuality and history, between heaven and earth. Through its function as a link that holds together opposites, these poles belong to each other. For this reason, the intimate reality of the artist is the original force that nourishes the tree of life, through which the human is connected to the natural, the terrestrial to the celestial.” (G. Celant, quoted in: ‘The Destiny of Art: Anselm Kiefer,’ Anselm Kiefer, Milan, 1997, p. 15)