Joseph Beuys

Joseph Beuys was a German sculptor, installation artist, performance artist, and art theorist that participated in the Fluxus movement. While Beuys was always interested in Art, it wasn't until after World War II that he became a professional artist. During the war, Beuys was in a plane that crashed. He claims to have been rescued by a nomad who nursed him back to health by wrapping him in animal fat and felt. Although there has much controversy over the validity of this story, there is no doubt that this experience had a great influence on Beuys' work. 

Beuys studied sculpture at the Dusseldorf Academy of Fine Arts. By the time he graduated as a master student, Beuys work consisted mainly drawings that used unconventional materials and were often difficult to interpret. In 1961, Beuys became a professor of 'monumental sculpture.' It was during his time teaching that he became internationally known. Beuys was doing a performance art at an anniversary of an assassination attempt on Hitler when students attacked the artist. Beuys continued teaching (even after being dismissed from the University), being a shaman to his students and even participated in politics the rest of his life.