German artist Josef Boys: biography

The history of modern art often presents us with surprises. We have to get acquainted with unusual forms and vivid manifestations. In any epoch, in every century there appeared creators, who amazed with their works. Such people can not be called an exception, since everyone sees art in their own way. Joseph Beuys was not only an original artist, but also an interesting sculptor.

The beginning of the life path

German creator was born in 1921 and became popular after the Second World War. But before this schoolboy from Krefeld was fond of natural sciences and was going to treat children in the future. He entered the preparatory department of the medical faculty, studied well and wanted to become a pediatrician.

At the same time, the young man was carried away by serious literature, he read with enthusiasm Goethe, Hamsun, Novalis. In the fine arts he was attracted by the artist Edvard Munch, in music - composer Richard Strauss. Now we can already say that the further creative destiny of Boise was influenced by the philosophy of Kierkegaard and Leonardo.

Sculptures of Lembroke

In 1938, Josef Boyce, whose biography was still unknown to anyone, got acquainted with the work of the famous sculptor Wilhelm Lembroke. This meeting played a decisive role in shaping his views on art.

Boyce realized that the sculpture for him is an immense horizon of possibilities, which can be the best manifestation of his "I". It was then that he began to engage in plastic surgery. After it was repeatedly asked, were there any more sculptors who could influence the work of the young artist? He replied with certainty that only Lembroke was an inspiration to him, only in his works he saw something profound.

It is worth saying that it is very difficult to visually perceive Lembroke. His works can be understood intuitively and spend looking at them, hours and days.

The Second World War

As for the whole world, the Germans started the war unexpectedly. Josef received the specialty of radio operator, and also tried not to miss the lessons of natural sciences. During the war, fate prepared the artist for difficult tests. Taking part in the fighting, his dive bomber was shot down over the Crimea. Boyce miraculously survived.

Jumping off with a parachute, he fell into a swoon. But fate has prepared him an incredible gift. The Tatars who lived in that area fought for the life of the future art star for more than a week. They spent nights over it, healing heavy wounds with folk remedies. Later the German group found Boise, he was transferred to a military hospital.

After rehabilitation, Josef again had to go to the front, where he had repeatedly been seriously injured. The war for the artist ended in the Netherlands.

After the war

In May 1945, Boyce was captured by the British, but was released after 3 months. He returned to his parents in Germany, in the suburb of Cleves.

All that Boise managed to survive was reflected in his works. In plastic, he decided to use felt and fat, which he treated the Tatars, and felt hat, which he had to wear to keep the skin on his head, became a kind of symbol of survival.

A true mentor

After the war, Boise had to go through a long time of rehabilitation, not only physical, but also psychological. The teacher Ewald Mataré was able to pull him out of a difficult state, and the Dusseldorf Academy of Arts became home for Joseph.

Matar taught a lot to Boyce, he could instill in the young artist a taste and sense of proportion, therefore it was great to create accents in sculptural forms.

Fame

In the early 1950s, few knew Josef. But the popularization of his work contributed to the growth of his fame. Journalists began to pay much attention to the new talent. Boise made famous unusual features of creativity. The bizarre forms of sculptures, the radicalism in his works and the undeniable uniqueness - all this made the German a famous figure in his homeland. Gradually, his influence in art spread to Europe and the whole world.

The Fluxus Movement

Another interesting fact of the biography was the participation of Boise in this movement. The ideas of this unspoken organization were close and understandable to the artist. Those who participated in the Fluxus movement, tried to eliminate the border between life and art. They advocated a departure from the traditional concept of painting, music and literature. In their opinion, a close spiritual contact should be established between the creator and the public.

Josef Boyce, whose work was just such, took an active part in the Fluxus movement. But the sculptor had to abandon his ideological views after he became a professor at the academy in which he had been taught by Matare at the age of 40. His new works reached a higher level, and his view of art became radical. Creations of this period are called "social plastics."

Crucial moment

The German artist Josef Boyce tried to create unusual exhibitions and teach the audience a new approach to understanding art. One of such accents was the appearance in the works of honey and hare. These images were akin to felt and fat. Honey is the product of the work of bees, just as artistic creations are the result of human activity, so many of his works were based on this image: "Queen of bees", "From the life of bees", etc.

The hare embodied the image of the creator himself. Boyce associated himself with this animal. Leaving the danger, the hare buries into the ground, and this process the artist interpreted as a contact of thoughts with matter.

Boise's activity at the end of his life was a miracle. After all, the man was already very sick, he lived without a spleen and one kidney, suffered pains in the legs, his lungs were amazed. Already in 1975, the creator overtook a heart attack. Like many philosophers, Boyce was convinced that pain breeds spirituality.

In 1986, the German sculptor committed suicide.

Creation

For his life, many works created by Josef Boyce - an artist whose paintings are less known than sculptures. Strange and unusual works are his paintings "Witches belching fire" and "Hearts of revolutionaries: The passage of the Planet of the Future".

Josef Boyce is a sculptor who created vivid and memorable images. His fantasy-borne installations reflected the past and the present of the world and of the author himself. For example, the project "Coyote: I love America and America loves me". This masterpiece arose after the German spent three days in the same room as a kayot. In this room, Josef was brought on a stretcher straight from the airport, and afterwards also on stretchers and taken out. At parting, Boyce hugged the coyote. Later, he explained his actions by saying that he wanted to isolate himself and not see anything in America, except for the coyote.

Boyce Josef (artist), interesting facts from the life of which are described in the article, created bright and memorable works. He is one of the main theoreticians of postmodernism.

Josef Boyce is an extraordinary artist. Not everyone understands and perceives it. This genius has become a kind of phenomenon of the postwar world.