Beuys Cross (Manresa hbf Cross)

The Beuys Cross is a sculpture by the Danish artist Björn Norgård, located at the foot of the Pont Vell. This work was part of the artistic action titled Manresa Hauptbahnhof [Manresa Central Station], carried out with the composer Henning Christiansen in 1994.

Both Norgård and Christiansen had previously collaborated with the German avant-garde artist Joseph Beuys in his famous action Manresa, which took place in Düsseldorf in 1966 and was directly inspired by the spirituality of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Beuys (1921–1986) was one of the most important conceptual artists of the 20th century. He was part of the Fluxus movement, which was very active during the 1960s. His works aimed to bring art closer to everyday experience.

The Beuys Cross takes the form of a split cross, symbolizing the soul divided between intuition and reason, characteristic of contemporary humanity. It also develops a synthesis of the traditionally opposed concepts of north, south, east, and west—expressed in the staff that alludes to an earlier artistic action titled Eurasia—in a proposal that ultimately integrates art, science, and religion.