Hessa Al Rumaihi: Joseph Beuys

Painting By Andy Warhol Of Joseph Beuys

Joseph Beuys is one of the most well known German artists who was very influential during the 20th century, which has inspired many artists today simply because of his creativity and his work. Joseph was born in 1921 and passed away by 1986. When he was a fighter pilot in the army, he had an accident and almost died but because of the help of fat and fleet, Joseph survived. These two materials later became important features in the Joseph's work. Before becoming an artist, Joseph practiced medicine during the 1940s. He was inspired by The main concepts that Joseph includes in his work is anthropology, humanism, and social philosophy. For four years, Joseph studied sculpting in an art academy. In 1961, Joseph was introduced to the Fluxus movement during an event. Joseph had also experienced many types of drugs, alcohol, sex..etc. Under the influence of drugs, Joseph killed his wife trying to aim the gun on the glass on her head. When reading about the beat generation, i felt that the Fluxus movement was similar, they were both very artistic and do not sound like the usual society during their time. They have both influenced and inspired thousands of people around the world and you can simply see it in people's art. While watching his performance arts video in class i found it very bizarre, but while i was thinking of my piece it was something that was very personal to me and I wouldn't expect anybody to understand. Art really is a beautiful way to express one's feeling or emotions and I believe that is exactly what these artists were doing during the 20th century, simply thinking out of the box.