Scala Napoletana (above) is a magical centrepoint of Beuys is Here. Picture © DACS 2009
Exhibition: Beuys is Here, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea, until September 27 2009
"Joseph Beuys was unlike anyone else on the planet," enthuses legendary art dealer Anthony D'Offay, whose Artist Rooms initiative have brought this monumental artist to the offbeat location of Bexhill. "He had a grace and generosity about him that was truly remarkable and, like Andy Warhol, was one of the major figures of the 20th century."
This major exhibition draws on the multifaceted nature of the German artist’s work, presenting an eclectic mix of sculpture, drawings and vitrines by a man who was as renowned for his political and social activities as his art.
"Beuys believed that everyone is an artist, no matter what their profession," says Alan Haydon, Director of the De La Warr Pavilion. "He adhered firmly to a notion of cultural democracy and seemed to be asking himself 'how can I change people's way of thinking so as to improve their lives?'
"He addressed the interests of a community rather than a sector, playing to the public and not to his professional colleagues. His goal was to get his work out into the world and he was one of the first artists to come out of his protected environment and start to raise issues about the world as a whole."
Joseph Beuys, Untitled (1971). Photograph on canvas. Picture © DACS 2009
Beuys' work is all about stimulating questions, forcing viewers to examine their surroundings, rather than offering conclusive answers. "There is no definitive way of assessing Beuys' work," admits Haydon, who has looked to the artist's biography to understand his thought processes.
During the Second World War, Beuys' plane crashed, and he was saved from death in the Crimea by Tartar nomads. This personal experience strongly inflected his work, provoking a lifelong interest in the social and ecological functions of art.
The dominant themes are ones of energy, protection and containment, and he worked widely with felt and, most famously, fat to convey these ideas – they were the same materials he had been wrapped in to ensure his survival.
Fat Chair (1964-85). Mixed media. Picture © DACS 2009
Perhaps the most striking exhibit is a mundane white chair covered with a blob of yellow fat. Confrontational in its repulsiveness, it typifies Beuys' modest yet overtly powerful presence.
"Our show is about examining the relevance of Beuys today," says D'Offay. "His work transcends any sense of time and place. It is difficult for works of art to remain shocking, but Fat Chair achieves this effortlessly, looking like one of the great classical works of the 20th century."
The pieces on display were donated by D'Offay, who worked closely with Beuys to install his infamous sculpture Plight in London in 1985 – a room covered with felt, with a locked grand piano taking centre stage. The sculpture echoed Samuel Beckett's overriding theme of the failure of communication.
Overcome Party Dictatorship Now, poster. Picture © DACS 2009
The dumbing quality of felt is employed again in the sculpture Two Thrones and Two Stopwatches, a bizarre fusion of what appears to be an energy source covered with a blanket, dominated by stopwatches mounted on a stark wooden plank on the wall. The affect is almost pagan, and mildly disturbing.
The highlight of this show is one of Beuys' final works, Scala Napoletana, exhibited for the first time in the UK. Consisting of a ladder supported by a wire and two weights, the contrast of lightness and density is almost magical and summons up visions of Beuys himself as a self-styled shaman through the all-encompassing power of art.
"The meaning is characteristically ambiguous," muses Haydon. "It could be prompting us to think about notions of ascendance or descent after death, depending upon our views."
Far from advocating a prescriptive vision of art, Beuys' work encourages intellectual participation. There is something refreshingly altruistic about this show, reminding us of the importance of reflection and the validity of our own personal questions, choices and creative outcomes.
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