Joseph BEUYS (1921–1986) TAMPER EVIDENT

tamper evident

Akim Monet Fine Arts

tamper evident

Akim Monet Fine Arts is pleased to present TAMPER EVIDENT Joseph Beuys. This show brings together 13 iconic works by German artist, teacher, performance artist, and art theorist Joseph Beuys (1921-1986), and features an original installation by Akim Monet that gives its title to the exhibition. This installation incorporates and transmutes eight examples of the Beuys multiple, Rose for Direct Democracy (1973) into a provocative commentary on the obfuscation of fact in our modern world.

As Beuys well knew, Democracy is precarious, and one of the most essential components of an effective democracy is Free Press. Trusted news anchors are now faded bygones –instead, journalists in America and abroad face a new McCarthyism, claims of voter fraud are increasingly common, “alternative facts” are substituted for truth, and every news outlet has something different to say depending which side they are on. The works in TAMPER EVIDENT Joseph Beuys offer a query around the realities of truth and democracy, questioning the influence of intuition and rationality (or lack thereof) on our perceptions of reality.

Please contact Clanci Jo Conover for full fact sheets office@akimmonetfinearts.com

Joseph BEUYS

Katalog Museum Mönchengladbach, 1967

Catalogue-box, felt object stamped in oil paint with “BEUYS” and the “Braunkreuz” (Brown Cross), text-booklet, two illustrated leaflets

Box: 7 7/8 x 6 5/16 x 1 3/16 in (20 x 16 x 3 cm)

Felt piece: 7 11/16 x 6 1/8 x 3/8 in (19,5 x 15,5 x 1 cm)

In 1967, the Museum Mönchengladbach staged the first public survey of Beuys’s art. With no funds available to publish a traditional, bound catalogue, Beuys instead produced an inexpensive box in which a range of materials could be placed.

Joseph BEUYS

Intuition, 1968

Wooden box with pencil drawing

11 13/16 x 8 1/4 x 2 3/8 in (30 x 21 x 6 cm)

Manufactured in an unlimited edition, this multiple was originally sold by mail order for eight Deutschmarks. The low cost and ready availability of the work fulfilled the wish of Beuys and his publisher Wolfgang Feelisch to make art more accessible to the general public.

Joseph BEUYS

Der Tisch / The Table, 1968 Original 16 mm reel and BASF magnetic sound tape in film cannister, label with oil paint (Browncross)

7 1/2 x 1 2/3 in (19 x 4.2 cm)

Der Tisch is a multiple based on a performance (Aktion) by Joseph Beuys with his Duesseldorf Art Academy students Anatol Herzfeld, Joachim Duckwitz, Johannes Stüttgen & Ulrich Meister held on December 5, 1968 at Creamcheese in Düsseldorf. The present work is the master originally belonging to Dietmar Kirves from which a multiple was published by Vice Versand, Remscheid in a numbered edition of 200.

Joseph BEUYS

Art Information of Anatol Herzfeld, 1971

Soft cover book, 14 tacked black and white pages 11 13/16 x 8 1/4 in (30 x 21 cm)

In the art information series conceived of by Dietmar Kirves, editions by Joseph Beuys, Michael Buthe, Terry Fox, Jochen Gerz, Joel Glassman, Anatol Herzfeld, Jean Le Gac and Sarkis Zabunyan appeared between 1971 and 1973.

The present work is the master, originally belonging to Dietmar Kirves.

Note the inscription in red over the artists’ signatures: “Master 16 mm”

Joseph BEUYS

Rose für Direkte Demokratie / Rose for Direct Democracy, 1973

Graduated glass cylinder, with inscription “Rose für Direkte Demokratie” and “Joseph Beuys” 13 3/16 x 2 in (33,5 x 5 cm)

On his desk at Documenta 5 stood a slender glass vase, in which a fresh-cut red rose was placed each day. The multiple Rose for Direct Democracy derives from this vase, but consists of a graduated cylinder, on which the work’s title is inscribed.

Joseph BEUYS Dillinger, 1974

Videotape (VHS) in cloth-covered box

Box: 4 7/8 x 8 7/16 x 1 9/16 in (12.4 × 21.4 x 4 cm.)

An Action outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago on January 14, 1974, on the artist’s first trip to the US Filmed by Klaus Staeck and Gerhard Steidl (camera), video, digitized, black-and-white, sound, 21:57 min.

Joseph BEUYS

Noiseless Blackboard Eraser, 1974

Felt blackboard eraser, stamped, signed and numbered Label yellow, typography black.

Signed in felt pen in Sütterlin (prewar German) script; numbered in pencil by another hand; a very few copies experimentally numbered by stamping.

2 x 5 1/8 x 1 in (5 x 13 x 2,5 cm)

Beuys is known for his use of unconventional art materials, and particularly felt, which has strong symbolic associations for him. In the artist’s own philosophy, felt is connected with insulation, protection and healing powers, which he attributed to his experiences during World War II.

Joseph BEUYS

Kunst=KAPITAL / Art=Capital, 1979

10 Deutschemark banknote from 1980, inscribed by Beuys in felt pen “Kunst=KAPITAL”

2 9/16 x 5 1/8 in (6,5 x 13 cm)

“Kunst = KAPITAL” (Art = Capital) was the formula Joseph Beuys wrote on slates installed in the main room of the international pavilion of the 1980 Venice Biennale. With this project, the artist hoped to replace money and the accumulation of monetary value with the capital afforded by creative potential.

Joseph BEUYS

Europawahl: Die Grünen / European elections: The Greens, 1979

Offset print, stamped twice 5 15/16 x 3 15/16 in (15 x 10 cm)

Postcard after a poster designed by Beuys’ former student Johannes Stüttgen, for the party Die Grünen, for which Beuys ran as a candidate in the 1979 European elections. At the center of the postcard is a photo by Ute Klophaus showing a small work by Beuys from the early 1960s.

Joseph BEUYS

Untitled (signed Reichsbanknote)

Circa 1980

100 Mark Papiermark from 1920, with handwritten addition 4 1/4 x 6 3/8 in (10,8 x 16,2 cm)

This work is unique

Front: Head of the “Bamberg Horseman” in Bamberg Cathedral.

Back: Floral rosette design.

Issuer: Reichsbank.

Date of Issue: 1 November 1920. Printer: Reichsdruckerei.

Joseph BEUYS

Edition May 12 1981

Book similia similibus, stamped, numbered and signed, and tape cassette, numbered and signed In cardboard box, stamped “Düsseldorf

Kunstakademie 12. Mai 1971 Raum 20 18 Uhr”

Book similia similibus, 280 pages, ed. Johannes Stüttgen, DuMont Verlag, Cologne, 1981; edition 1200 numbered and stamped copies, the first 200 as deluxe edition.

Tape recording of Joseph Beuys: Nur noch 2272 Tage bis zum Ende des Kapitalismus (Only 2272 days left until the end of capitalism), 90 min.; performed by Beuys, Johannes Stüttgen, and Karl Fastabend, on Apr. 1, 1981

Joseph BEUYS

Rundbrief F.I.U. / F.I.U. Mailing, 1982-1984

Printed letter, stamped 11 5/8 x 8 1/4 in (29.53 x 20.96 cm)

In 1982, for documenta 7, Beuys proposed a plan to plant 7000 oaks throughout the city of Kassel, each paired with a basalt stone. The present letter was part of a mailing intended to announce the 7000 Oaks project as well as to solicit donations to finance the planting of the trees.

Joseph BEUYS

Filzwinkel / Felt Angle, 1985

Felt object, Issued in cardboard box with typography. Inscribed in pencil on label affixed to reverse of felt object; numbered by another hand.

14 3/16 x 4 1/8 x 3/8 in (36 × 10.5 x 1 cm)

Beuys often utilized the fabric felt in his work. For him it represents protection and preserving energy by preventing it from being dissipated and lost

Akim MONET

TAMPER EVIDENT, 2023

Installation with roses and graduated glass cylinders

Dimensions varied

This installation was created by Akim Monet using the iconic Joseph Beuys edition of glass beakers: Rose for Direct Democracy (1973).

Object Checklist

Object Checklist

Joseph BEUYS

Katalog Museum Mönchengladbach, 1967

Catalogue-box, felt object, text-booklet, two illustrated leaflets

Box: 7 7/8 x 6 5/16 x 1 3/16 in (20 x 16 x 3 cm)

Felt piece: 7 11/16 x 6 1/8 x 3/8 in (19,5 x 15,5 x 1 cm)

Joseph BEUYS

Intuition, 1968

Wooden box with pencil drawing

11 13/16 x 8 1/4 x 2 3/8 in (30 x 21 x 6 cm)

Joseph BEUYS

Der Tisch / The Table, 1968

Original 16 mm reel and BASF magnetic sound tape in film cannister, label with oil paint

7 1/2 x 1 2/3 in (19 x 4.2 cm)

Joseph BEUYS

Art Information of Anatol Herzfeld, 1971

Soft cover book, 14 tacked black and white pages

11 13/16 x 8 1/4 in (30 x 21 cm)

Joseph BEUYS

Rose for Direct Democracy, 1973

Graduated glass cylinder, with inscription “Rose für Direkte Demokratie” and “Joseph Beuys”

13 3/16 x 2 in (33,5 x 5 cm)

Joseph BEUYS

Dillinger, 1974

Videotape (VHS) in cloth-covered box

Box: 4 7/8 x 8 7/16 x 1 9/16 in (12.4 × 21.4 x 4 cm.)

Joseph BEUYS

Noiseless Blackboard Eraser, 1974

Felt blackboard eraser, stamped, signed and numbered

Label yellow, typography black.

2 x 5 1/8 x 1 in (5 x 13 x 2,5 cm)

Object Checklist

Joseph BEUYS

Kunst=KAPITAL / Art=Capital, 1979

10 Deutschemark banknote from 1980

Inscribed by Beuys in felt pen “Kunst=KAPITAL”

2 9/16 x 5 1/8 in (6,5 x 13 cm)

Joseph BEUYS

Europawahl: Die Grünen, 1979

Offset print, stamped twice 5 15/16 x 3 15/16 in (15 x 10 cm)

Joseph BEUYS

Untitled (signed Reichsbanknote), Circa 1980

100 Mark Papiermark from 1920, with handwritten addition

4 1/4 x 6 3/8 in (10,8 x 16,2 cm)

Joseph BEUYS

Edition May 12 1981

Book similia similibus, stamped, numbered and signed, and tape cassette, numbered and signed

Joseph BEUYS

Rundbrief F.I.U. / F.I.U. Mailing, 1982-1984

Printed letter, stamped 11 5/8 x 8 1/4 in (29.53 x 20.96 cm)

Joseph BEUYS

Filzwinkel / Felt Angle, 1985

Felt object, Issued in cardboard box with typography

14 3/16 x 4 1/8 x 3/8 in (36 × 10.5 x 1 cm)

Akim MONET

TAMPER EVIDENT, 2023

Installation with roses and graduated glass cylinders

Dimensions varied

tamper evident