On the occasion of the 100th year of Deutsche Bank’s presence in Turkey, Sabancı University Sakıp Sabancı Museum (SSM) will host an exhibition entitled  “Joseph Beuys and His Students – Works from the Deutsche Bank Collection” from 9 September until 1 November 2009. 

Curated by Friedhelm Hütte, Global Head of Art, Deutsche Bank, and art critic Ahu Antmen, the exhibition is the first to combine works on paper by Joseph Beuys with drawings, photographs and prints by his most important students: Peter Angermann, Lothar Baumgarten, Walter Dahn, Felix Droese, Imi Giese, Jörg Immendorff, Anselm Kiefer, Imi Knoebel, Inge Mahn, Ulrich Meister, Meuser, Blinky Palermo, Katharina Sieverding and Norbert Tadeusz.

“To be a teacher is my greatest work of art. The rest is a waste product, a demonstration.” declared Beuys, who taught over 300 students at the Düsseldorf Academy of Art from 1961 until 1972, when he was dismissed from the school. The artist considered himself as an educator independent of his artistic pursuits, and was known to encourage his students to take their own paths. With more than 350 works, the exhibition will present the entire spectrum of artistic approaches that Beuys promoted as a charismatic teacher. At the same time it will illustrate one of the most important chapters of contemporary art and shows the impact Joseph Beuys has had on his students’ work up until the present day.

In her description of the exhibition, SSM Director Dr. Nazan Ölçer states, “It is a great pleasure to collaborate once more with Deutsche Bank, owner of one of the worlds most comprehensive corporate collections of art, after our joint exhibition in 2007, ‘Habersiz Bulusma / Blind Date Istanbul’. The exhibition of works by Joseph Beuys and those of his students together presents a view of how the artist has influenced the medium of art since the 1960s. I consider the confluence of this exhibition with the 11th International Biennial of Istanbul an important opportunity for all art lovers.” 

Ersin Akyuz, CEO of Deutsche Bank says, “We are very happy about the continuing cooperation of Deutsche Bank and SSM, and especially about the opportunity to contribute to the realization of extraordinary exhibitions such as this. Beuys’ conviction that art has the power to effect real social change was also fundamental for the beginnings of the Deutsche Bank Collection and its concept “Art works”. Beuys’ famous equation “art = capital” is reflected in the bank’s belief that art should not only be presented on executive floors and should not be seen as an investment, but should be the cultural capital of all employees, visitors and the general public. The artist’s strong influence on the collection is also underlined by the fact that the top floor of one of the Deutsche Bank’s twin towers in Frankfurt was dedicated to Beuys until its renovation in 2008. Deutsche Bank has been collecting works of art over the past 30 years under the slogan “Art works”, it is primarily devoted to the immediacy of the expression of ideas and concepts on paper. This exhibition, in which works on paper by Beuys and his students can be seen together, presents in a sense the foundations of the Deutsche Bank Collection - the idea of taking new paths in art education.”