From 13 June 2021, the Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart Berlin is scheduled to show the special exhibition ” Von der Sprache aus. Joseph Beuys on the 100th Birthday”.
To mark the 100th anniversary of Joseph Beuys’ birth, Hamburger Bahnhof is placing language at the centre of an exhibition that includes sculptures, drawings, installations, films, posters and documents from the holdings of the National Gallery, the Marx Collection, the Museum of Prints and Drawings and the Art Library. As part of the exhibition, the central cycle “The secret block for a secret person in Ireland” will be shown, among other things, for the first time since 2014.
Joseph Beuys in his flat in Düsseldorf, 1981 © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kunstbibliothek, Sammlung Marzona / Winfried Göllner
In 1985, Joseph Beuys contributed to the series “Speeches about one’s own country: Germany” at the Münchner Kammerspiele. In his speech, he stated that he developed his works from language. For him, language contained a plastic power through whose conscious shaping each and every individual could participate physically, intellectually and communicatively in the reorganisation of society.
On the basis of 25 works from 1945 to 1985, the exhibition traces Beuys’ engagement with language, ranging from silence to hours of discussion, from animalistic-sounding sounds to precise conceptual discussions and enigmatic writings.
Joseph Beuys © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kunstbibliothek, Sammlung Marzona
On the occasion of the exhibition, Hatje Cantz is publishing a book with text contributions by Claudia Ehgartner, Barbara Gronau, Kolja Kohlhoff, Maja Naef, Stefan Ripplinger, Nina Schallenberg, Holger Schulze, Tobias Vogt, Matthias Weiß and the WIESE / مرج) Arabic for meadow), the literary collective of the Neue Nachbarschaft Moabit / Moabit Mountain College.
Joseph Beuys, 1980 © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kunstbibliothek, Sammlung Marzona / Richard Schulze-Vorberg
Due to Corona, the planned duration of the exhibition may change at short notice. For up-to-date information, please contact www.smb.museum.
WHERE? Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin, Invalidenstraße 50/51, 10557 Berlin-Mitte
WHEN? Sunday, 13 June to Sunday, 19 September 2021, Tue- Fri 10:00 am – 6:00 pm, Sat + Sun 11:00 am – 6:00 pm, Mon closed
Von der Sprache aus. Joseph Beuys on the occasion of his 100th birthday | Hamburger Bahnhof | ART at Berlin