Willoughby Sharp - Collaboration With Joseph Beuys

Collaboration With Joseph Beuys

Sharp met Joseph Beuys in Düsseldorf in 1958. From then until Beuy’s death in 1986, they had a close, collaborative relationship. Sharp was instrumental in bringing Beuys’ work to the attention of the American art world. Starting with an ARTFORUM interview (December, 1969), he also featured Beuys in the first issue of Avalanche magazine (1970). Then in 1972, Sharp produced the Beuys Videoview which constituted Beuys’ first solo show in New York at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, Inc., N.Y. He also produced “Public Dialogue” in which Beuys performed as part of Mr. Sharp’s “Videoperformance” exhibition in 1974. In 1974, at Beuys’ request, Sharp videotaped “I Like America, America Likes Me” his performance at the Rene Block Gallery, New York, which has recently been released as “America” (1974–2003). In 1979, Beuys invited Sharp to curate the film/video sections of his retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.