Angst (Fear) 1995

This piece, called 'Angst', I'm guessing it was made sometime in the late twentieth century. Looking at it, I immediately think of the kind of artmaking that's more like a process, a doing, than a picture. The limited palette focuses on dark browns and blacks with contrasting areas of lighter tones; it’s almost monochromatic. The physicality of the medium is definitely at play here. The figure is built up from these skeletal marks. You can see how Morgner used washes to give it that drippy, dissolving quality, and how this texture really amplifies the sense of unease. Look closely at the marks around the figure's head – almost like a halo, but it's all scratches and eruptions. This reminds me a bit of the early work of Anselm Kiefer, that kind of post-war German art that’s all about confronting the darkness of history. Art isn’t about easy answers. It’s about wrestling with the questions, with the fear, with the angst.