Light Trap

As you gaze into Lichtfalle (Light Trap), strong feelings may arise—awe, a sense of mystery and perhaps even fear. The painting’s subject, a firmament of stars amidst vast darkness, invites us to consider our place within the universe. Stars are indicated as points of light or as scientific numbers that identify them. Kiefer’s cosmic vista alludes to the horrors of World War II. The stars’ identification numbers recall those tattooed on the arms of Holocaust victims. At center, a rat trap ensnares shards of numbered glass, referencing both a black hole and lives destroyed in Nazi concentration camps.

Kiefer is one of the most important German artists of his generation. His art often focuses on German landscape, culture, myth and history. Kiefer was one of the first artists to address the atrocities of the Holocaust, a subject that has been an ongoing theme in his work since the 1960s.