Wolf Vostell

Wolf Vostell was a German artist (Leverkusen, Germany, 1932–Berlin, Germany, 1998) and a major figure in postwar contemporary art. One of the founding figures of Fluxus, he worked in painting, sculpture, installation, video art, actions, and happenings, and was one of the artists who helped create new relationships between art, everyday life, sound, object, image, and participation.

His language was built around the concept of dé-coll/age, both a technique and an artistic idea based on the fragmentation, erasure, destruction, and transformation of images and objects from everyday life. Vostell incorporated televisions, cars, concrete, sounds, and industrial materials to connect art and life. From the 1950s onward, he also addressed historical and political themes, including the memory of the Holocaust, war, violence, and the need to resist forgetting.

His work is part of collections such as the Museo Reina Sofía, MoMA, Berlinische Galerie, and Museum FLUXUS+. In 1976, together with Mercedes Guardado, he founded the Museo Vostell Malpartida in Malpartida de Cáceres, which holds the Wolf and Mercedes Vostell Collection and the Vostell Archive, and is dedicated to his work, Fluxus, and conceptual art.