Author Description

The exhibition and the accompanying catalogue offer profound insight into the cosmopolitan thinking of Joseph Beuys, as manifested in his actions, which are presented in the form of video projections and photographs. For it is in this capacity as an acting, speaking, and moving figure that Beuys examined the central, radical idea of his expanded concept of art: "Every human being is an artist." The goal of his universalist approach was to renew society from the ground up. To this day, his influence can be felt in artistic and political discourses. In this exhibition, contemporary artists and representatives from various areas of society enter into a multilayered, transcultural dialogue with Beuys. From today's perspective, they confirm, question, and expand upon his theses about the possibilities of a future conceived via art. With B-Town Warriors, Phyllida Barlow, Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stépanian, Fatou Bensouda, Huma Bhabha, Dineo Seshee Bopape, Angela Davis, Bob Dylan, Charles Foster, Núria Güell, Thich Nhat Hanh, Donna Haraway, Raphael Moussa Hillebrand, Jenny Holzer, Michel Houellebecq, Dusadee Huntrakul, Suzanne Lacy, Zoe Leonard, Goshka Macuga, Milk Tea Alliance, Lutz Mommartz, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, The Otolith Group, William Pope.L, Tejal Shah, Vandana Shiva, Santiago Sierra, Patti Smith, Edward Snowden, Christopher D. Stone, Greta Thunberg, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Malala Yousafzai. Exhibition: K20, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf, Germany (27.03. - 15.08.2021).