Des Moines Art Center Tour: Images of Iowa class

By: Hannah Demoret

When I first thought of going on a field trip to the Des Moines Art Center, I didn’t know what to expect. I mean, what college student (who isn’t really interested in art…or maybe just doesn’t have the eye for art, I should say) is excited to tour the DES MOINES Art Center? However, my feelings about the place changed when my class visited on the 10th. There were so many more pieces of art then the outside of the building looked like it could hold, and beautiful ones at that.

When looking around at first, trying to pick a piece of art that “spoke to me” or rather, one that I could even interpret at all, I was stumped at what to do. I caught myself at one point staring at an abstract piece for like five minutes just trying to figure out what it meant. I thought to myself, “well, I see people doing this in the movies (holding my chin, thinking of what it meant), why isn’t it working for me.” Well, I moved on to other works of art and finally spotted one that I maybe could interpret. I know art is open for interpretation, but I don’t want to offend the artist if it’s totally off! But I’ll give it a shot.

I chose an untitled piece by Anselm Kiefer that was created in 1987-88. It is a large piece, and by large I mean it looked bigger than four 65-inch TVs squared together. According to the information card to the right, the media used were “oil, acrylic, emulsion, and ash on canvas with lead objects and ballet shoes on treated lead.” What caught my eye was the very gloomy color scheme that was used with the center of the piece being two ballerina slippers above some railroad tracks with a ladder climbing upwards. The sculpture is full of grays and browns, no color. This created a very dark atmosphere with the feeling of death or something horrific on the railroad tracks. It was as if the ladder was a path to heaven and something had happened to a girl who loved ballet. The sculpture blends realism and abstract art. It looks as though there is a building to the right of the tracks, but it is blended with the rest of the background so I could tell it wasn’t the focus of the piece. It may be an important element as to where the scene is, but it didn’t seem as though the artist wanted to make it real.


This isn't the piece of art I chose, but a very similar one from Kiefer. This is to give you an idea of the color scheme and similar train tracks that are in the sculpture I chose.

When I was looking at this, I thought maybe that this piece was portraying a tragedy of his, like a death of a relative. I got on the Internet and started reading various biographies on him. According to biography.com, he is a German artist who often creates paintings and sculptures that relate to historic events or people to be the influence of his work, such as the Holocaust. Viewing much of his other work, they all reflect traumatic experiences and dark colors.

From viewing more of Kiefer’s art, it seemed he really wanted his audience to feel the trauma of the events and people he portrayed. Author Susan Sontag says, “photographs alter and enlarge our notions of what is worth looking at and what we have a right to observe” (1). In this piece, there is definitely a center of importance by making the ladder, ballet slippers, and railroad tracks realistic. It seemed as though he wanted us to focus and make a connection with those rather than the background of the scene.

All in all, I could be wrong in all of my interpretations; however, touring the DSM Art Center was worthwhile and opened my eyes to appreciate art more and feel what is trying to be said through the work of art.