WolfVostell
Biography
Wolf Vostell (1932, Leverkusen, Germany–1998, Berlin, Germany ) was a German painter, sculptor, and one of the most influential figures in Fluxus, Happenings, installation, and video art. His work challenged traditional artistic boundaries, integrating everyday objects, television, and urban materials to create politically and socially engaged art. Vostell grew up during World War II, an experience that deeply shaped his artistic vision. He trained as a photolithographer (1950–1953) before studying painting and experimental typography at the Werkkunstschule Wuppertal. He later continued his education at the École des Beaux-Arts in Parisand the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where he was exposed to contemporary avant-garde movements. In 1954, during a visit to Paris, he encountered the term "décollage" in a newspaper, which inspired him to develop Dé-coll/age, an artistic technique involving the destruction and recomposition of images, reflecting post-war fragmentation and media manipulation. This concept became central to his work, appearing in his collages, sculptures, and performances. Vostell was one of the first artists to integrate television into his work, as seen in "Das Schwarze Zimmer" (The Black Room, 1958), where he used TV screens as part of an installation questioning media influence. He was also a co-founder of Fluxus, collaborating with figures such as Nam June Paik, Joseph Beuys, and Allan Kaprow, and was among the earliest artists to stage Happenings in Germany. His 1961 performance "Cityrama" in Cologne is considered a landmark event in the history of performance art. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, his work became increasingly political, addressing themes such as the Vietnam War, the Holocaust, and mass media’s role in shaping history. His notable works from this period include "6 TV Dé-coll/age" (1963), which distorted television images, and "Miss America" (1968), a critique of American consumerism and political propaganda. He frequently used concrete, embedding objects like televisions, cars, and furniture in hardened structures to symbolize the persistence of historical memory. In 1959, he married Mercedes Guardado Olivenza, a Spanish writer, and later established Museo Vostell Malpartida in Malpartida de Cáceres, Spain, in 1976. This museum remains dedicated to his work and contemporary experimental art. His works are housed in major institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York and the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid. His belief that "Art is Life, Life is Art" continues to influence contemporary artists, ensuring his place as a pioneer of conceptual and media-based art.
