The history of contemporary art often brings us surprises. We have to get acquainted with unusual forms and vivid manifestations. In any era, in every century, creators appeared who impressed with their works. Such people cannot be called an exception, since everyone sees art in their own way. Joseph Boyce was not only a kind of artist, but also quite an interesting sculptor.
The beginning of life
The German creator was born in 1921 and became popular after the Second World War. But before that, a 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 became interested in serious literature; he enthusiastically read Goethe, Hamsun, Novalis. In the visual arts he was attracted by the artist Edward Munch, in music - by the composer Richard Strauss. Now it can already be argued that the future creative fate of Boyce was influenced by the philosophy of Kierkegaard and Leonardo.
Sculptures of Lembrook
In 1938, Joseph Beuys, whose biography was still unknown to anyone, became acquainted with the work of the famous sculptor Wilhelm Lembrook. This meeting played a decisive role in shaping his views on art.
Boyce realized that sculpture for him was an immense horizon of possibilities, which could be the best manifestation of his “I”. It was then that he began to engage in plastic surgery. After he was asked more than once, were there still sculptors who could influence the work of the young artist? He answered with confidence that only Lembrook was an inspiration for him, only in his works he saw something deep.
It is worth saying that visually perceiving Lembrook is very difficult. His works can be understood intuitively and carried out, looking at them, hours and days.
The Second World War
As for the whole world, for the Germans the war began unexpectedly. Joseph received the specialty of a radio operator, and also tried not to miss the lessons of natural sciences. During the war, fate prepared the artist for difficult trials. Taking part in the hostilities, his dive bomber was shot down over the Crimea. Boyce miraculously survived.
Jumping with a parachute, he fainted. But fate prepared him an incredible gift. Tatars who lived in that area fought for the life of the future art star for more than a week. They spent nights over him, healing severe wounds with folk remedies. Later, a German group found Boyce, he was transferred to a military hospital.
After rehabilitation, Joseph again had to go to the front, where he had been seriously injured more than once. 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 Kleve.
Everything that Boyce managed to survive was reflected in his works. In plastic, he decided to use the felt and fat that the Tatars treated him with, and the felt hat that he had to wear in order to keep the skin on his head, became a kind of symbol of survival.
Real mentor
After the war, Boyce had a long time to undergo rehabilitation, not only physical, but also psychological. Teacher Evald Mathare was able to get him out of a difficult condition, and the Düsseldorf Academy of Arts became Joseph's home.
Boys taught Matera much, was able to instill in the young artist a taste and sense of proportion, so Joseph could create accents in sculptural forms superbly.
Fame
In the early 1950s, few knew Joseph. But the popularization of his work contributed to the growth of his fame. Journalists began to pay much attention to new talent. Boyce made famous unusual features of creativity. The bizarre forms of sculptures, the radicalism in his works and the indisputable originality - all this made the German a famous figure in his homeland. Gradually, his influence in art spread to Europe and the whole world.
Fluxus Movement
Another interesting fact of the biography was the participation of Boyce in this movement. The ideas of this tacit organization were close and clear to the artist. Those who participated in the Fluxus movement tried to eliminate the boundary 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.
Joseph Boyce, whose work was just that, took an active part in the Fluxus movement. But the sculptor had to abandon his ideological views after he became a professor at the same academy at the age of 40, in which he was taught by Matar. 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 educate the audience in a new approach to understanding art. One of these accents was the appearance in the work of honey and a 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: “The Queen Bee”, “From the Life of Bees”, etc.
The hare embodied the image of the creator himself. Boyce associated himself with this animal. Moving away from danger, the hare buries itself in the ground, and the artist interpreted this process as a contact of thoughts with matter.
Boyce’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 from pain in his legs, his lungs were affected. Already in 1975, the creator caught a heart attack. Like many philosophers, Boyce was sure that pain gives rise to spirituality.
In 1986, a German sculptor committed suicide.
Creation
During his life, many works were created by Joseph Boyce, an artist whose paintings are less known than sculptures. Strange and unusual works are his paintings “Witches spewing fire” and “Hearts of revolutionaries: Passage of the Planet of the future”.
Joseph Boyce is a sculptor who created vivid and memorable images. The installations born of his fantasy reflected the past and present of the world and the author himself. For example, the project "Coyote: I love America and America loves me." This masterpiece arose after the German lived for three days in the same room with a coyote. Josef was brought to this room on a stretcher straight from the airport, and after that he was taken out on a stretcher. In parting, Boyce hugged the coyote. Later, he explained his actions by the fact that he wanted to isolate himself and not see anything in America, except for the coyote.
Boyce Joseph (artist), whose interesting facts from his life are described in the article, created vivid and memorable works. He is one of the main theorists of postmodernism.
Joseph Boyce is an extraordinary artist. Not everyone understands and perceives it. This genius has become a peculiar phenomenon of the post-war world.