Gallery going at Thaddaeus Ropac leads to some thoughts on the uniqueness of Anselm Kiefer's painting surfaces.

"There have been many paintings in past and recent years that utilize paint's materiality to emulate textures from flesh to smoke. Some names that come to mind include Allison Schulnik, Annie Hemond Hotte, Jyrki Riekki, or Katy Moran. But only few of these painters manage to infuse their medium with the trauma of a violated surface as Kiefer does… [Kiefer's paintings] effectively extend the notion of painting without becoming a sculpture."