Materiality and Social Sculpture

Barbara worked with Beuys in the 1980's planting trees at the documenta in Kassel, Germany. She has taught Social Sculpture at the New School for Social Research based on principles that came out of Beuys's teachings, and she will participate in the Brown University Beuys seminar as a seminar/studio workshop leader this spring.

Beuys Seminar at Brown University

Opening reception: Friday, January 27, 5:30 - 7:30 pm

The German artist Joseph Beuys (1921-86) is one of the most influential figures in modern and contemporary art. His charismatic persona, unconventional lifestyle, and thought-provoking art (including room-size environments and ritualistic performances that often involved animals and employed materials such as felt, honey, fat, and earth) gained him an international reputation. In addition, his political activism and commitment to art as a campaign for social change continue to spark lively debates.

In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the artist's death, the David Winton Bell Gallery will present an exhibition and symposium that re-examines Beuys's oeuvre in the context of contemporary art and culture. Another View of Joseph Beuys: Multiples from New England Collections includes editioned works—prints, sculptural objects, posters, and postcards—from a major Rhode Island private collection, supplemented by loans from the Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University; Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College; Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art; and the David Winton Bell Gallery, Brown University. Another View of Joseph Beuys is mounted in collaboration with the Reilly Gallery, Smith Center for the Arts, Providence College, where a concurrent exhibition of Beuys' work will be on view.

A symposium featuring nationally and internationally recognized scholars and curators will be held on Sunday, February 26, from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Participants are: Lynne Cooke, Curator of the DIA Foundation; Peter Nisbet, Daimler-Benz Curator of the Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University; Carin Kuoni, Director of the Vera List Center for Arts and Politics, New School of Social Research; Cornelia Lauf, University IUAV of Venice; and Ronald Feldman, founder of Ronald Feldman Gallery, NYC. The symposium is sponsored by the C. V. Starr Foundation Lectureships Fund and the Goethe Institute, Boston.