Joseph Beuys

Joseph Beuys was a German artist whose work encompassed sculpture, drawing, performance, teaching and political activity. He used materials including felt, fat and copper for their physical properties and symbolic associations, while animals, natural science and myth recur throughout his imagery.

Beuys’s performances, which he called Actions, often involved discussion and exchange with an audience. His idea of social sculpture extended artistic activity into the shaping of society itself. He was active in environmental politics and helped found the German Green Party. His work and public persona remain closely linked, including the deliberately mythologised account he gave of his wartime experiences.