Joseph Beuys | Utopia at the Stag Monuments | Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London

'In a time in which art is commodified and in some sense made into a trophy, where it’s institutionalised and intellectualised, the urgency of Beuys saying to us we are all artists and we are all together making the world for better or for worse, is a critical message.’

Watch curator Norman Rosenthal and artist Antony Gormley discussing Joseph Beuys: 'Utopia at the Stag Monuments', the most important UK exhibition of Beuys’ work in over a decade, on view at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac until 16 June 2018 (37 Dover Street, London). Walking us through the works in each of the gallery spaces, they offer their insights into the works and the artist himself.

Joseph Beuys famously declared: every man is an artist. He believed in the revolutionary power of art to unlock the potential for creativity in everyone and, by extension, to transform society. His utopian vision of social transformation through individual creativity and self-determination was expressed through his art, but also through Actions, lectures and sustained political activism. 

'Here is somebody who saw a world disintegrate because of ideology and wanted to find a deeper source of truth than appearances.'

Save the date for 6 June when Norman Rosenthal, Antony Gormley and Louisa Buck will be in conversation on Joseph Beuys at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London, in collaboration with The Art Newspaper. RSVP via Eventbrite (https://bit.ly/2k3ubXo) or at [email protected].