Beuys

Three decades after his death the one-of-a-kind German artist Joseph Beuys is without doubt perceived as a visionary who was ahead of his time. He was the first German artist to be given a solo exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York whilst at home in Germany his work was often still derided as the „most expensive trash of all time“. Once asked if he was indifferent to such comments he retorted: „Yes. I want to expand people’s perceptions“.Nowadays his perception often enough boils down to symbols of pop, to slogans: Beuys, the man with the hat, the felt and the ’fat corner’. Beuys, the German avant-gardist on par with Warhol and the likes.Andres Veiel, once again proving his genius as documentary filmmaker, lets the artist speak for himself, thereby freeing him from the historic cage.Beuys comes alive once again here: From previously unpublished audio and video footage Veiel creates an associative, porous portrait which, like the artist himself, opens up spaces for ideas rather than proclaiming statements. Beuys boxes, chats, lectures, explains art to a dead hare and asks: „Do you want to instigate a revolution without laughter?“

(Christoph Gröner)