Café des Artistes is an informal, café–style discussion event looking at the work of Joseph Beuys. Beuys is one of the most important and controversial German artists of the twentieth century, known for performances and sculptural installations that explored myth, politics and man’s relationship to the natural world. Beuys saw creativity as central to human existence, and his art was rooted in processes of change and transformation.
This series of public discussions, held at venues around the UK, are each focused on one artist in the ARTIST ROOMS collection and are organised by the ARTIST ROOMS Research Partnership, based at the University of Edinburgh. This event will feature two short presentations and a debate by specialists on Beuys, followed by time for public discussion and concluding with feedback and audience questions and answers. This is a free event and no prior knowledge is assumed.
Speakers
Keith Hartley is Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh. Keith has extensive experience working on exhibitions of Beuys works. His talk will explore the artist’s practice with particular focus on the drawings in the ARTIST ROOMS collection.
Peter van der Meijden teaches art history and museology at the University of Copenhagen. His talk on Joseph Beuys will consider the works on display in Tate, situating them in relation to ideas of energy and flowing as artistic, social and political tools and in the context of his Aktionen and his later dialogical practice.
