“Every human being is an artist” — and why that needs no entrance exam
September 12, 2026 · 2 min read · Geza Lakatos & Szidonia Bandi
Joseph Beuys said: “Every human being is an artist.” Today the sentence sits on posters and coffee mugs, and it is mostly read as a friendly compliment: you too, you are creative as well. That is not how it was meant.
The sentence is not a compliment
Beuys was not saying that everybody can paint well. He meant that every person shapes the society they live in — through what they do, decide, build and leave undone. He called it social sculpture: society is the material.
That is closer to a demand than to praise. It takes away the excuse that shaping things is for the others — the gifted ones, the ones with the diploma.
Not everyone has to be an artist
We turn the sentence one step further, into the uncomfortable direction: not everyone has to be an artist. But anyone who creates should be able to show.
That is a different claim. The first makes everybody an artist. The second gives everybody who makes something the right to make it visible — and leaves the verdict to the people who see it, instead of to a jury beforehand.
The obstacle is rarely the talent
What stands between the storage room and the wall is usually not the question whether the work is good enough. It is the photographs, the texts, the question what it should cost, a page where it lives, and an answer for the person who asks at eleven at night whether it is still available.
That is work which has nothing to do with painting — and it is the reason a lot of pieces stay in the box that could have been hanging on a wall long ago.
That is why there is no entrance exam here
We do not screen anyone beforehand. You upload up to ten works, we write the texts for them, you read them and approve. Then you get your page, and an agent answers interested people at any hour and passes you their name and number.
What you ask for your works you write yourself, in your own words. We do not set prices.
Not everyone has to be an artist. But anyone who creates should be able to show.
Want this for your work?
Open your archive: upload up to 10 works, we write the texts, you approve. No entrance exam — anyone can take part. Free.
Apply as an artist