Unconventional: The Legacy of Joseph Beuys

 
Explore the impact of German conceptual artist Joseph Beuys (1921-1986) on contemporary artists based or trained in Kansas City.    
 
The year 2021 marks what would have been the 100th birthday of Joseph Beuys. Widely regarded as one of the most influential artists of his time, Beuys pushed the definition of art to its limits through his ritualistic performances and use of non-traditional materials. For Beuys, art was not an object to be admired and collected but a vehicle for positive social, political, and environmental change.   
 
While the success of Beuys’ transformational goals for art is still unresolved, there is little doubt that his work has left a lasting impact on contemporary art. To celebrate Beuys’ artistic legacy, Goethe Pop Up Kansas City invited four artists to reflect upon his impact on their artistic practice or respond to his works of art.    
 
Beuys’ concern with the environment and conviction that that art is a participatory process can be observed in the work of Karen McCoy and Jarrett Mellenbruch. On the other hand, Marcie Miller Gross and SHENEQUA, like Beuys, work with unconventional materials that resonate with them on a personal level. While eclectic in their approach, all four artists are connected by their unconventional method of approach to medium and process.  
 
IMAGES Left: Joseph Beuys at the 4th documenta. Kassel. Photograph. 1968 | Right: Marcie Miller Gross, Composition #7