The exhibition

The exhibition presents more than 100 drawings from the Aeneas Bastian Collection, which, thanks to the ongoing exchange between his father, Heiner Bastian — a friend and collaborator of Joseph Beuys — and Beuys himself, possesses a unique integrity and a special internal coherence. Created between 1945 and 1985, these works offer a comprehensive insight into four decades of his drawing practice. Early landscapes, botanical studies, and mythic-symbolic compositions are displayed alongside later, increasingly experimen tal works in which materials such as fat, Braunkreuz, iron chloride, or found materials made of paper prove a central aspect. For Beuys, these materials were not mere tools, but carriers of their own energies and potentials that make change, growth, and transformation visible. Drawing was far more than a medium of representation for the artist, it served as a “thought-form” — a site of observation, inquiry, and insight. 

The exhibition title “I am a Transmitter...” cites Beuys and refers to his conception of drawing as a conductive medium. Drawings convey thoughts, energies, and notions, and form the link between the visible and the invisible, between artistic thought and social action. The exhibition thus offers a new perspective on Joseph Beuys’s drawn oeuvre and demonstrates how fundamental drawing was to his thinking and to his concept of art, which continues to exert a profound impact to this day.

The exhibition was organized by the Kupferstich-Kabinett, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, and the Menil Collection, Houston.