Joseph Beuys (May 1921 – January 1986)
“Everyone is an artist as long as they act in a conscious way and with conviction, then everyone has the potential to create and potentially change society”
– Joseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys was a German artist, art theorist, pedagogue and one of the founding members of Fluxus who incorporated ‘happenings’ and performance art into his work. Beuys sought to obfuscate the lines between life and art in a bid to make art more democratic.
As a member of the Luftwaffe, Beuys’ plane crashed in the Crimea from which he fabricated the story that he was reduced by nomadic Tatar tribesmen who covered his body in fat and felt to keep him warm. Beuys used this story to explain his frequent use of fat and felt in his work – he believed that myth and fiction contained more truth than everyday reality.
Beuys was an advocate of grassroots democracy and a founding member of the German Green Party in 1980; from the 1970s onwards, Beuys used his ‘actions’ to disseminate his political and environmental beliefs:
“Each one of us has a creative potential which is hidden by competitiveness and success aggression. Environmental pollution advances parallel with the pollution of the world within us. Hope is denounced as utopian or illusory and discarded hope breeds violence. It is no longer regarded as romantic, but exceedingly realistic to fight for every tree, every plot of undeveloped land, every stream as yet unpoisoned, every old town centre and against every thoughtless reconstruction scheme.”
– Joseph Beuys
Beuys’ most famous ‘action’ is undoubtedly How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare which premiered at his first gallery solo show in Düsseldorf in 1965. For this, Beuys locked himself inside the gallery and talked about paintings to a dead hare:
Background:
Who is Joseph Beuys? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7pIGGcIoLk&ab_channel=nationalgalleries
Joseph Beuys learning resource: https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/features/joseph-beuys-learning-resource
Who was Joseph Beuys? (German) https://www.dw.com/de/prophet-oder-scharlatan-wer-war-der-k%C3%BCnstler-joseph-beuys/a-57315814
Biographies:
Timeline of life (German): https://www.hdg.de/lemo/biografie/joseph-beuys.html
Postwar Haus der Kunst biography: https://postwar.hausderkunst.de/en/artworks-artists/artists/joseph-beuys
Detailed biography on Beuys’ life and major works (German): https://artinwords.de/joseph-beuys-biografie/
Tate biography: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/joseph-beuys-747
Artnet biography & visual artworks: http://www.artnet.com/artists/joseph-beuys/
Biography: https://www.cobosocial.com/dossiers/art/100-years-joseph-beuys-germany/
Biographical portrayal of Beuys on his centenary (German): https://www.swr.de/swr2/wissen/joseph-beuys-revolutionaer-der-kunst-swr2-wissen-2021-05-12-100.html
Guggenheim biography: https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/joseph-beuys
A portrait of Beuys (German): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7xopR0xixM&t=609s&ab_channel=BeuysTV
Works:
60 artworks by Beuys: https://www.nationalgalleries.org/search/artist/joseph-beuys
Timeline of works & major artworks explained: https://www.theartstory.org/artist/beuys-joseph/
Beuys’ project calling for environmental and social change, ‘social sculpture’: 7000 Eichen (7000 oaks): https://www.diaart.org/visit/visit-our-locations-sites/joseph-beuys-7000-oaks
Biography, works & quotes from Beuys: https://www.swp.de/panorama/joseph-beuys-beus-werke-zitate-todesursache-filz-fett-hase-kojote-frau-kinder-jeder-mensch-ist-ein-kuenstler-56787436.html
An explanation about Beuys’ felt suit, Tate Museum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCOOHzENIfY&ab_channel=Tate
I Like America and America Likes Me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6Wg-pB8ckg&ab_channel=AriadnaP%C3%A9rez
Interviews:
Interview with Beuys in 1980 (German): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZTZW-k-TB8&ab_channel=BeuysTV
1969 interview with Beuys: https://www.artforum.com/print/196910/an-interview-with-joseph-beuys-36456
Articles:
The Making of Joseph Beuys, The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/jan/30/fat-felt-fall-earth-making-and-myths-joseph-beuys
Beuys’ connection to Germany’s Green Party (German) https://www.boell.de/de/2021/05/07/joseph-beuys-und-die-gruenen
A contemporary review of Beuys as a controversial figure: https://www.deutschland.de/en/topic/culture/joseph-beuys-100th-birthday
Beuys behind the scene: a critical look at the artist:
Berliner Zeitung article on Hamburger Bahnhof’s collection of Beuys’ works: https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/en/for-joseph-beuys-it-all-starts-from-language-li.168028
Interactive:
Beuys augmented reality (AR) experience for iOS: https://www.beuysar.com/en/home-english/
Quiz, podcast, video series about Beuys: https://www.goethe.de/en/kul/bku/dos/beu.html
Exhibitions:
Article on ‘show your wound’ (German): https://www.lenbachhaus.de/entdecken/ausstellungen/detail/joseph-beuys
Video on ‘thinking is plastic’ exhibition at the Bundeskunsthalle (German) & video of Dutch artist Renzo Martens on Beuys (English): https://www.bundeskunsthalle.de/beuys.html
Article about the Starting From Language: Joseph Beuys at 100 exhibition, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin: https://www.exberliner.com/whats-on/art/joseph-beuys-at-100/
Videos:
Why Beuys is still important today: https://www.ndr.de/kultur/kunst/hamburg/Joseph-Beuys-zum-100-Geburtstag-Jeder-kann-Kuenstler-sein,josephbeuys102.html
Beuys in dialogue with his audience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrgzXhIQ-dk&ab_channel=MaximoVega
Beuys’ last speech in 1986, part 1 (German with English subtitles): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmBQDMKCYC4&ab_channel=beuysproductionsronald
Beuys’ last speech in 1986, part 2 (German with English subtitles): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF7HJTqFXIs&ab_channel=beuysproductionsronald
Beuys on freedom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_kSZvEQW4g&ab_channel=BeuysTV
Curator Norman Rosenthal and artist Antony Gormley on Beuys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCnge-uBR1w&ab_channel=ThaddaeusRopac
Beuys’ lecture at the Institute of Contemporary Art, 1974 (English): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEOUnTB8IuA&ab_channel=_chary
General:
100-year anniversary of Beuys, Deutsche Welle (German): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcmWao9oSdQ&ab_channel=DWDeutsch
Beuys and Düsseldorf: https://www.duesseldorf-tourismus.de/en/experience/art-and-culture/beuys
Beuys2021, centenary celebration: https://beuys2021.de/en/homepage
100 Years of Joseph Beuys, Goethe-Institut: https://www.goethe.de/ins/us/en/kul/art/bys.html
Joseph Beuys Estate: https://ropac.net/artists/29-joseph-beuys-estate/
In celebration of Beuys’ centenary (German): https://www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de/zum-100-geburtstag-von-joseph-beuys-unter-diesem-hut-steckt.1024.de.html?dram:article_id=496617
6 surprising facts about Beuys: https://www1.wdr.de/nachrichten/joseph-beuys-fakten-100.html
Discover more about Beuys in Krefeld: https://www.krefeld.de/beuys2021