Joseph Beuys was always interested in attracting public notice on a large scale. It therefore seems only logical that he relied heavily on the medium of the poster to draw attention to his exhibitions, happenings, and his socio-political involvement. No other segment of his oeuvre proclaims his goals as trenchantly as his posters, and yet he often left the details to others who then carried out the design in accordance with his wishes and characteristic aesthetic. Consciously subdued hues with shades of brown and green give the artwork a certain uniformity. Beuys appears in portraits and full-length shots, showing objects and materials of a symbolic character such as crosses, felt, and fat, for example. Around 290 posters were made between the late 1960s and 1986.
The exhibition consists of 100 posters as well as additional photographs of Beuys by Ute Klophaus, who captured Beuys’ mien in characteristic moments, especially during his happenings. An interesting dialog of various media results in view of the fact that the photographs also often served as the basis for design of the posters.

Curator

Isabel Siben