Joseph Beuys's Centenary and Radical Social Sculpture
The 2021 centenary of Joseph Beuys's birth spotlights his enduring influence, particularly his concept of 'social sculpture' which posits every person as an artist responsible for shaping society. Born May 12, 1921, in Krefeld, Germany, Beuys's work, such as the 1982-83 installation 'The End of the 20th Century' at Berlin's Hamburger Bahnhof, used materials like felt and fat, informed by a legendary 1944 plane crash in Crimea where Tatar rescuers wrapped him in felt. His practice merged art, pedagogy, and politics, evident in his professorship at the Düsseldorf Academy of Art from 1961 to 1972, his founding of the Free International University (F.I.U.) in 1974, and his co-founding of the German Green Party in 1980. Beuys participated in four Documenta exhibitions (1964, 1972, 1977, 1982), the 1976 Venice Biennale, and three São Paulo Biennials (1979, 1985, 1989), with a major 1979 retrospective at New York's Guggenheim Museum. His 1985 postcard 'With this I leave art' signaled a late-career disillusionment. He died of a heart attack on January 23, 1986. His ideas on art as a transformative, therapeutic force and his use of natural materials remain central to contemporary debates.
Key facts
- Joseph Beuys was born on May 12, 1921, in Krefeld, Germany.
- His 1982-83 work 'The End of the 20th Century' is installed at the Hamburger Bahnhof museum in Berlin.
- Beuys was a professor at the Düsseldorf Academy of Art from 1961 until his dismissal in 1972.
- He co-founded the German Green Party in 1980.
- Beuys participated in four editions of Documenta in Kassel.
- A 1979 retrospective of his work was held at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.
- He created the postcard-multiple 'With this I leave art' on November 1, 1985.
- Beuys died on January 23, 1986, in Düsseldorf.
Entities
Artists
- Joseph Beuys
- Andy Warhol
- Hélio Oiticica
- Alain Borer
- Peter-Klaus Schuster
- Norbert Elias
- Rudolf Steiner
- Mário Pedrosa
- Giancarlo Politi
- Blink Palermo
- Katharina Sieverding
- Lothar Baumgarten
- Johann Stüttgen
- Marcel Duchamp
- George Maciunas
- Nan June Paik
- John Cage
- Yoko Ono
- Giulio Carlo Argan
- René Block
- Marina Abramović
- Ulay
- Georg Baselitz
- Anselm Kiefer
- Arthur C. Danto
- Paul Klee
- Kurt Schwitters
- Marc Chagall
- Mondrian
- Lasar Segall
- Arnold Bode
- Heiner Stachelhaus
Institutions
- Goethe Institute
- Hamburger Bahnhof
- Documenta
- Bauhaus
- Deutsche Bank
- Instituto Tomie Ohtake
- Academy of Art of Düsseldorf
- Free International University (F.I.U.)
- Partido Verde
- Deutsche Studentenpartei
- Organisation der Nicht Wahler, Freie Volksabstimmung
- Organisation fur direkte Demokratie durch Volksbastimmung
- Baader Meinhoff
- Parlamento Europeu
- Frankfurter Rundschau
- Bienal de São Paulo
- ZDF
- Fluxus
- AG Gallery
- Skulptur Münster
- Guggenheim Museum
- Artforum
- Flash Art
- Goethe Institut
- Venice Biennale
- Tomie Ohtake Institute
- Düsseldorf Academy of Art
- International Free University
- German Green Party
- German Student Party
- Organization of Non-Voters – Free Plebiscite
- Organisation for Direct Democracy by Plebiscite
- ag gallery
- Flash Art magazine
Locations
- Krefeld
- Germany
- Holanda
- Berlin
- Crimea
- Asia
- Munique
- Austria
- Kassel
- Düsseldorf
- Nova York
- United States
- JFK Airport
- Nápoles
- Italy
- Portugal
- Algarve
- Veneza
- Los Angeles
- São Paulo
- Brasil
- Salvador
- Bahia
- Recife
- Olinda
- Zona Leste
- Mumbai
- India
- Pequim
- China
- Jacarta
- Indonesia
- Tóquio
- Japan
- Netherlands
- Munich
- Naples
- New York
- JFK airport
- Porto Feliz
- Mato Grosso
- Grão-Pará
- Brazil