Joseph Beuys
Die geheime Botschaft der Materialien
06.03. – 08.05.2005

Joseph Beuys (1921–1986) is one of the most important artists of the postwar period. His work had a lasting influence on his own and subsequent generations of artists, is featured in major international art collections, and is the subject of extensive academic research. The impact of his work is evident not least in the fact that it continues to polarize public opinion to this day.

Using often unusual materials, Joseph Beuys created a complex body of work in which the specific properties of materials such as fat or felt are explored and expressed. Questions of form, design, and the mutability of materials are of particular importance here. The exhibition “The Secret Message of Materials” approaches this theme and thus a central question in the work of Joseph Beuys. Around 50 loans from the collection of the Museum Schloß Moyland Foundation / van der Grinten Collection are on display. In addition to works on paper, these include so-called “plastic pictures,” objects, and multiples from the years between 1952 and 1985. The focus is on the large-format plastic work “Table with Aggregate” from 1983/85, which has never before been seen outside Schloss Moyland.

Many of these works are experimental in nature. Some are drafts for later works, others refer to the extensive action work with which Joseph Beuys gained international renown from the 1960s onwards, or they are related to important room installations. The exhibits thus provide an insight into Beuys’ artistic process and refer to the artist’s multi-layered, extensive oeuvre.

Following the Beuys exhibition in 1978 and exhibitions by some of his students, such as Palermo and Reiner Ruthenbeck, the Kunstverein Bremerhaven is continuing its exploration of Joseph Beuys’ work with this exhibition. The exhibition is accompanied by an extensive program of events, including guided tours for adults and school classes, a film program, slide lectures, and a seminar day on Joseph Beuys.

Detlef Stein

Curated by Klaus Becké.