Wolf Vostell
(born 14 October 1932 in Leverkusen, Germany, died 3 April 1998 in Berlin)
was a German painter, sculptor and Happening artist
1950–53 trained as a photo-lithographer; 1954
studied free painting at and experimental typogarphy at the
Werkkunstschule Wuppertal; 1955–56 studied at the École National Supérieur
des Beaux-Arts, Paris (F); 1957 studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf;
1958 first happenings; early 1960s, co-founder of the Fluxus movement and
produced intermedia actions and installations; 1963 first films and
extension of the Dé-collage actions into the electronic sphere. Since the
early 1960s, Vostell uses a variety of media and materials in his
happenings, actions, and installations without being a media artist in the
strict sense. His relation to media is above all a political concern. His
concept of Dé-collage differs from ‹collage› in that it stresses the
aggressive, destructive aspect of found structures and visuals. From 1963
on, he uses television sets in his intermedia art, and publishes seven
numbers of the magazine »Dé-coll/age – Bulletin aktueller Ideen« (a
bulletin of current ideas) from 1962 to 1967, an important forum for
Intermedia art in that time.
