The project «The cult of the artist» National Gallery in Berlin presents an exhibition of the famous German artist Joseph Beuys

In the state museums of Berlin are exhibitions, united by a common theme of «The cult of the artist». What to make artist to be a cult? First, it must know to read and love a lot of people. Not just to realize that creativity «love», or that it is worthy to enter the history of art, but very much admire the artist himself. To this end, the artist should not be merely an interesting personality, but the bearer of a very unique way, a unique and very recognizable. Secondly, his art must be the best «esoteric» and not accessible to all - the «correct» the cult should be associated with something sacred. Those who sought to discover the essence of worship is not enough simply to look at it. On the way to understanding it will need to undergo many tests and a good reflection of a world in which he lives, and their perception of the world. Many fans of cult artists say that the creativity of their idols has changed his views on life.

Joseph Beuys (Joseph Beuys, 1921-1986), no doubt, was the cult artist. When the word «Beuys» art lovers imagine angular man with sad eyes, unchanged in the Hat. He created a repulsive in appearance, but rich in the sense of works, including sculptures, drawings, video, installation ... According to Beuys, art is not just a «nice things», to decorate someone's living room. Art should not help a person escape from reality, they themselves must become a reality. Beuys was very active in the political arena: one of his utopian ideas implied the construction of «direct democracy», where instead of blindly bureaucratic machine to make informed decisions of their creativity by individuals and collectives. In the early 1940's, before you go to fight, Beuys studied biology and botany. A passion for nature, still life - in 1979 he even ran in the European Parliament as a candidate of the party «green». The artist was pacifist, opposed to environmental pollution and nuclear weapons.

One of the main ideas Beuys was that «the artist can be every». For this and fell in love with his radical youth, which is taken up prior to the status of human-legends. I must say, Beuys constantly fueling its image, developing a detailed mythology and iconography. With what material is primarily associated Beuys? From felt, felt, melted lard. The central myth of the artist was a story about how during the Second World War his plane crashed in the Crimea, and his dying, saved the Crimean Tatars. They spread it with fat and wrapped in felt, that his body was warm. True or not, nobody knows, but the installations Beuys «salvation» materials occupy a central place - just like honey, which is a symbol for the artist of heat. In the most famous performance Beuys «Explaining the picture dead зайцу» spread his face plastered with honey and gold foil. Black and white photo Beuys, with the sad face of rock dead animal, critics called the «Mona Lisa XX century».

Berlin pays tribute to Joseph Beuys exhibition, which opened Oct. 3 at the Museum of Modern Art Hamburger Bahnhof. It is called «Joseph Beuys: We are - the revolution!». It presents 270 works. The main theme of the exhibition is the identity of Beuys as a major component of its worship. Organizers want to give the public an answer to the question why contemporaries Beuys so loved this strange artist and why «Protest Youth» 1960's and 1970's, believed it to your guru. Just as Francis Bacon (Francis Bacon), Louise Bourgeois (Louise Bourgeois) , Alberto Giacometti (Alberto Giacometti) and other creators of the XX century, not belonging to either of the artistic currents, Beuys created the work, not very attractive in appearance, but a powerful manifesto of freedom of creativity. Beuys exhibition will run until January 25, 2009.

Material prepared Yulia Maksimova

Sources: dascorps.de , krugosvet.ru , artinvestment.ru