Joseph Beuys: Arena

by Joseph Beuys, Christopher Phillips

"Arena" is a major but rarely exhibited Beuys work that consists of 100 panels containing several hundred photographs of Beuys, spanning the artist's career from the late 40s to 1972. Realized in 1973, "Arena" attains a monumental scale and the sort of grand design appropriate to an artistic summa; as such, the project amounts to a broad portrait of Beuys' artistic persona. It is here documented for the first time.

300 pages, Hardcover

First published March 2, 1994

About the author

Joseph Heinrich Beuys (/bɔɪs/ BOYSS, German: [ˈjoːzɛf ˈbɔʏs]) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism, sociology, and anthroposophy. He was a founder of a provocative art movement known as Fluxus and was a key figure in the development of Happenings.

Beuys is known for his "extended definition of art" in which the ideas of social sculpture could potentially reshape society and politics. He frequently held open public debates on a wide range of subjects, including political, environmental, social, and long-term cultural issues.