Joseph Beuys – the pseudo-shaman and his coyote in New York

The artist’s fame came not least from the fact that he was believed to be a kind of medicine man who can communicate with nature spirits. The common performance with a coyote established this legend. Beuys traveled to New York City especially for this purpose – without even looking at the city.

—

In May 1974 Joseph Beuys locked himself in a room with a coyote in a New York gallery for days. When he arrived at John F. Kennedy Airport, the Düsseldorf artist immediately had himself wrapped in felt from head to toe. Wrapped up in this way and without a single glance at the city, he had an ambulance drive him straight to René Block’s gallery to see “Little John”.

–