Joseph Beuys expanded the boundaries of art

Düsseldorf - The work of Joseph Beuys was a major proof that art is not only created by shaping clay or painting with a brush on paper. The most influential modern German artist, who died a quarter of a century ago on January 23, 1986, preferred to create his objects from fat, wax, or felt. He literally experienced these materials firsthand during World War II when, as a radio telegraphist for the Luftwaffe, he was shot down over Crimea and taken in by local Tatars. This experience shaped the artist, who spent much of his career as a rebel, an outsider, and the doyen of the German art scene, for his entire life.
    Joseph Beuys, who is now considered the father of conceptual art, emphasizing the process of artistic creation rather than the result, was born on May 12, 1921, in Krefeld. After returning from the front, he enrolled at the art academy in Düsseldorf and initially struggled to get by. However, his work, which significantly expanded the boundaries of visual art, gradually helped him overcome the traumas of war. He was also an important educator and promoter of the political, mythological, and philosophical dimensions of art.
    Not only Beuys's objects and installations became legendary, but also numerous performances and happenings. In the most famous of them, a member of the international Fluxus movement spent several days in a New York gallery with a live coyote. His action aimed to stimulate a dialogue between modern America and the Native Americans.