Wolf Vostell
Wolf Vostell | |
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![]() Wolf Vostell, 1980 | |
Born |
Leverkusen, Germany | 14 October 1932
Died |
3 April 1998 65) Berlin, Germany | (aged
Nationality | German |
Education | Kunstakademie Düsseldorf |
Known for | Painting Sculpture Installation art Video art Dé-collage |
Movement | Happening Fluxus |
Wolf Vostell (14 October 1932 – 3 April 1998) was a German painter and sculptor and is considered one of the early adopters of Video art and Environment/Installation and pioneer of Happening and Fluxus. Techniques such as blurring and Dé-collage are characteristic of his work, as is embedding objects in concrete and the use of television sets in his works.
Biography
Wolf Vostell was born in Leverkusen, Germany, and put his artistic ideas into practice from 1950 onwards. In 1953, he began an apprenticeship as a lithographer and studied at the Academy of Applied Art in Wuppertal. Wolf Vostell created his first Dé-collage in 1954. In 1955-1956, he studied at the École Nationale Superieur des Beaux Arts in Paris and in 1957 he attended the Düsseldorf Academy of Arts. Wolf Vostell's philosophy was built around the idea that destruction is all around us and it runs through all of the twentieth century. He used the term Dé-coll/age, (in connection with a plane crash) in 1954 to refer to the process of tearing down posters, and for the use of mobile fragments of reality. Vostell’s working concept of décollage is as a visual force that breaks down outworn values and replaces them with thinking as a function distanced from media.
His first Happening, Theater is in the Street, took place in Paris in 1958, and incorporated auto parts and a TV.[1] In 1958, he took part in the first European Happening in Paris and he produced his first objects with television sets and car parts. He was impressed by the work of Karlheinz Stockhausen, which he encountered in 1964 in the electronic studios of the German radio station WDR, and in 1959 he created his electronic TV Dé-coll/age. It marked the beginning of his dedication to the Fluxus Movement, which he co-founded in the 1960s. Vostell was behind many Happenings in New York, Berlin, Cologne, Wuppertal and Ulm among others.[1] In 1962, he participated in the Festum Fluxorum, an international event in Wiesbaden together with Nam June Paik, George Maciunas. In 1963 Wolf Vostell became a pioneer of Video art and Installation with his work 6 TV Dé-coll/age shown at the Smolin Gallery in New York, and now in the collection of the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid. The Smolin Gallery sponsored two innovative Wolf Vostell events on TV; the first, Wolf Vostell and Television Decollage, featured visitors to the gallery who were encouraged to create poster art on the walls.[2] In 1967 his Happening Miss Vietnam dealt with the subject of the Vietnam war. In 1968, he founded Labor e.V., a group that was to investigate acoustic and visual events, together with Mauricio Kagel, and others.
Wolf Vostell was the first artist in art history to integrate a television set into a work of art. This installation was created in 1958 under the title Cycle Black Room is now part of the collection of the art museum Berlinische Galerie in Berlin. Early works with television sets are Transmigracion 1-3 from 1958 and Elektronischer Dé-coll/age Happening Raum,[3] (E.D.H.R), (Electronic Dé-coll/age Happening Room), an Installation, from 1968. In 1974, his first major retrospective took place in the ARC 2 at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, an expanded version of which was shown at the Neue Nationalgalerie, in 1974.
![](../I/m/Goethe_Heute.jpg)
Wolf Vostell’s automobile-concrete-sculptures made from cars and concrete are to be found in Cologne Ruhender Verkehr (Stationary traffic) from 1969, in Berlin Beton Cadillacs(Concrete Cadillacs) from 1987 as well as VOAEX (Viaje de Hormigón por la Alta Extremadura) from 1976 in the Museo Vostell Malpartida at Malpartida de Cáceres, Spain and Concrete Traffic from 1970 in Chicago.
Wolf Vostell also gained recognition for his drawings and objects, such as images of American B-52 bombers, published under the rubric "capitalist realism" and as a result of his inclusion of television sets with his paintings. Nam June Paik and Wolf Vostell were both participants in the Fluxus movement and the work of both artists involved a critique of the fetishization of television and the culture of consumption. The catalogue raisonné of his screen prints and posters has been published in the Nouvelles de l'estampe by Françoise Woimant and Anne Moeglin-Delcroix in 1982.[4]
In 1992, the town of Cologne honoured Wolf Vostell with a major retrospective of his work. His pieces were distributed over 6 exhibition venues: Stadtmuseum Köln, Kunsthalle Köln, Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn, Kunsthalle Mannheim, Schloss Morsbroich Leverkusen and Städtisches Museum Mülheim/Ruhr. Under the artistic direction of David Vostell, the documentary VOSTELL 60-RÜCKBLICK 92, (VOSTELL 60-REVIEW 92) was created.
Wolf Vostells grave is at the Cementerio Civil de la Almudena in Madrid.
Wolf Vostell Archive
At more or less the same time, he founded the Vostell Archive. With great fervour and strict consistency, Wolf Vostell collected photographs, artistic texts, private correspondence with colleagues such as Nam June Paik, Joseph Beuys, Dick Higgins and many others, as well as press cuttings, invitations to exhibitions and events or books and catalogues which document wolf Vostell's work and that of his contemporaries. His private library with more than 6,000 books has formed part of the Archive. Wolf Vostell’s extensive oeuvre is documented in photographic form and makes up part of the archive. About 25,000 documents from four decades make the Vostell Archive a treasure of art history. Since 2005 the archive has been housed in the Museo Vostell Malpartida and is available to art historians, journalists and authors.
Selected works
- „Korea“,[5] 1953, Museum Fluxus+, Potsdam
- „Serie Guadalupe“, 1958
- „Zyklus Das Schwarze Zimmer“/„Cycle Black Room“,[6] 1958, Installation with TV, Berlinische Galerie, Berlin
- „Transmigracion“ 1-3, 1958, Canvas with TV
![](../I/m/EdHR.jpg)
- „Das Theater ist auf der Straße“, („The theater is on the street“), 1958, Happening
- „Rue de Buci“,[7] 1960, Dé-coll/age
- „Ihr Kandidat“,[8] 1961, Dé-coll/age, Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
- „Coca-Cola“,[9] 1961, Dé-coll/age, Ludwig Museum, Köln
- „Cityrama“, 1961, Happening
- „Wochenspiegel Beatles“, 1961, Dé-coll/age, Saarlandmuseum
- „Marilyn Monroe“,[10] 1962, Dé-coll/age
- „Kleenex“, 1962
- „Marilyn Monroe Idolo“,[11] 1963, Dé-coll/age
- „6 TV Dé-coll/age“,[12] 1963, Installation, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid
- „Sun in your head“, 1963, Video
- „You“, 1964, Installation
- „Goethe Heute“, 1967, Sprengel Museum Hannover
![](../I/m/Skulptur_Ruhender_Verkehr_Koeln2007.jpg)
- „Hommage an Henry Ford und Jaqueline Kennedy“, 1967, Installation, Ludwig Museum
- „Elektronischer Dé-coll/age Happening Raum“, 1968, Installation with TV, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin
- „Hours of fun“, 1968, Dé-coll/age, Berlinische Galerie, Berlin
- „Miss America“,[13] 1968, Ludwig Museum
- „Jetzt sind die Deutschen wieder Nr. 1 in Europa“, 1968, Germanisches Nationalmuseum
- „B-52 - statt Bomben“,[14] 1968
- „Ruhender Verkehr“, 1969, Hohenzollernring, Köln
- „Concrete Traffic“,[15] 1970, Chicago
- „Heuschrecken“, 1970,[16] "Museum Moderner Kunst", MUMOK, Vienna
- „Auto-Fieber“, 1973, Installation, Museo Vostell Malpartida
- „VOAEX“[17]
- „Die Winde“,[18] 1981
- „Die Steine“,[19] 1981
- „Taxistand“, 1983
![](../I/m/Heuschrecken.jpg)
- „Mythos-Berlin“, 1987, Museo Vostell Malpartida
- „2 Betoncadillacs in Form der nackten Maja“, 1987, Rathenauplatz, Berlin
- „La Tortuga“, 1988, Marl
- „Schule von Athen“, 1988, LVR-LandesMuseum, Bonn
- „Tauromaquia mit BMW-Teil“, 1988
- „Der Fall der Berliner Mauer“, 1989
- „9.November 1989“ 1989
- „Berlin“, 1990
- „Le Choc“, 1990 [20]
- „Auto-TV-Hochzeit“,[21] 1991, Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe
- „Weinende / Hommage an Anne Frank“, 1992
- „Arc de Triomphe N°1“, 1993
- „A-Z“, 1995, Museo Extremeño e Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporáneo, Mérida
- „Jesus-TV“, 1996
- „Shoah“, 1997
- „Ritz“, 1998
![](../I/m/WolfVostellCarInConcrete.jpg)
Selected exhibitions
- 1966 Bilder, Verwischungen, Happening-Notationen 1961-1966, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Köln.
- 1970 happening & fluxus, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Köln.
- 1974 Retrospektive, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin.
- 1974 Retrospektive, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.
- 1977 documenta 6, Kassel.
- 1978 Bilder 1959–1974, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Madrid.
- 1980 Bilder 1959–1979, Kunstverein Braunschweig.
- 1980 Fluxus-Zug in Nordrhein-Westfalen.
- 1982 Die gesamte Druckgrafik, Bibliothèque National de France, Paris.
- 1992 Retrospektive, Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn, Josef-Haubrich-Kunsthalle, Köln, Kölnisches Stadtmuseum, Museum Morsbroich Leverkusen, Städtische Kunsthalle Mannheim.
- 2006 Die gesamte Druckgrafik, Kunsthalle Bremen.
- 2007 Wolf Vostell My art is the eternal resistance to death, Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn.
- 2008 Wolf Vostell My art is the eternal resistance to death, Carré d´Art-Musée d´Art Contemporain de Nîmes.
- 2010 Das Theater ist auf der Straße, Die Happenings von Wolf Vostell. Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen.
- 2010 Wolf Vostell Artista Europeo, Fondazione Mudima, Milano.
![](../I/m/Weinende.jpg)
Quotes
- „Art is Life, Life is Art.“ 1961 [22]
- „I declare peace as the greatest work of art.“ 1979
- „Every human being is a work of art.“ 1985
Honors
- 1982 Premio Pablo Igesias, Madrid
- 1990 Medaille de Paris
- 1996 Berliner Bär (B.Z.-Kulturpreis), Berlin
- 1997 Hannah Höch Preis, Berlin
- 1998 Medalla de Extremadura, Spain
- 1998 Ehrenbürger von Malpartida de Caceres, Spain
- 2001 Wolf Vostell Strasse, Leverkusen
- 2014 Internationaler Menschenrechtspreis, Dr. Rainer Hildebrandt-Medaille, Berlin
Bibliography
- TPL, François Dufrêne, Alain Jouffroy, Wolf Vostell, Verlag Der Kalender, Wuppertal 1961.
- Hrsg.: Jürgen Becker und Wolf Vostell: Happenings, Fluxus, Pop Art, Nouveau Réalisme. Eine Dokumentation. Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek 1965.
- Wolf Vostell. Ziehung der Lottozahlen, Tagesschau und Wetterkarte, Das Wort zum Sonntag. edition et, et 14, 1966.
- Vostell. Bilder, Verwischungen, Happening-Notationen 1961-1966. Kölnischer Kunstverein, 1966.
- Rainer K. Wick: Vostell Soziologisch. Bonn 1969.
- Wolf Vostell. Dé-coll/agen, Verwischungen 1954-1969. Edition 17, Galerie René Block Berlin 1969.
- Wolf Vostell. Aktionen, Happenings und Demonstrationen seit 1965, Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek 1970, ISBN 3-498-07053-3.
- Wolf Vostell. Happening und Leben. Luchterhand Verlag 1970.
- Wolf Vostell. Elektronisch. Neue Galerie im Alten Kurhaus, Aachen 1970.
- Vostell. Environments / Happenings 1958-1974, Arc2, Musée d'art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, 1975.
- Vostell. Retrospektive 1958–1974. Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin, Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin 1974.
![](../I/m/Wolf_Vostell.jpg)
- Wolf Vostell, Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund, Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hannover, Centro Miró, Barcelona, 1977.
- Vostell. Fluxus-Zug. Das mobile Museum. 7 Environments über Liebe Tod Arbeit, Berlin, 1981.
- Vostell. Das plastische Werk 1953-87, Mult(H)ipla, Milano, 1987.
- Vostell., Galerie Lavignes-Bastille, Paris, 1990, ISBN 2-908783-00-2
- Vostell. Retrospektive, Rolf Wedewer, Bonn; Köln; Leverkusen; Mülheim an der Ruhr, 1992, ISBN 3-925520-44-9
- Vostell - Extremadura, Asamblea de Extremadura, 1992, ISBN 84-87622-07-0
- Wolf Vostell. Leben = Kunst = Leben, Kunstgalerie Gera, E.A. Seemann, 1993, ISBN 3-363-00605-5
- Wolf Vostell in nordrheinwestfälischen Sammlungen. Kulturabteilung Bayer AG, Leverkusen, 1997.
- Wolf Vostell. Automobile, Pablo J. Rico. Wasmuth Verlag, 1999, ISBN 3-8030-3093-5
- Vostell – I disastri della pace/The Disasters of Peace, Varlerio Dehò, Edizioni Charta, Milano, 1999, ISBN 88-8158-253-8
- Wolf Vostell. The Fall of the Berlin Wall. Museo Vostell Malpartida, 2000, ISBN 84-7671-583-8
- 10 Happenings de Wolf Vostell, José Antonio Agúndez García, Editora Regional de Extremadura, 2001, ISBN 84-7671-510-2
- Wolf Vostell, Maria del Mar Lozano Bartolozzi, Editorial Nerea, Serie Arte Hoy, 2005, ISBN 9788489569386
- Wolf Vostell – Die Druckgrafik. Dr. Wolfgang Vomm, Prof. Dr. Wulf Herzogenrath u. José Antonio Agúndez García, Städtische Galerie Villa Zanders in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Galerie + Schloßverein e.V. Bergisch Gladbach 2006, ISBN 3-9810401-0-4
- sediment: Wolf Vostell. auf Straßen und Plätzen durch die Galerien Mitteilungen zur Geschichte des Kunsthandels, Heft 14/2007. Zentralarchiv des internationalen Kunsthandels, Verlag für moderne Kunst, Nürnberg, ISBN 978-3-939738-61-9
- Wolf Vostell. Meine Kunst ist der ewige Widerstand gegen den Tod. LVR-Landes Museum Bonn, 2007. ISBN 978-3-9811834-0-5
- Das Theater ist auf der Straße, Die Happenings von Wolf Vostell. Museum Morsbroich Leverkusen. Kerber Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-86678-431-4
- Wolf Vostell, Der Künstler ist anwesend. Stadtgalerie Mannheim 2012, ISBN 978-3-944128-37-5
- Wolf Vostell. Artista Europeo, Mudima Edizioni, Milano, 2010, ISBN 9788896817049
- Mercedes Vostell: Vostell – ein Leben lang. Siebenhaar Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-936962-88-8.
- Klaus Gereon Beuckers: Dé-coll/age und Happening. Studien zum Werk von Wolf Vostell. Ludwig, Kiel 2012, ISBN 978-3-86935-145-2.[23]
- Klaus Gereon Beuckers, Hans-Edwin Friedrich und Sven Hanuschek: dé-coll/age als Manifest, Manifest als dé-coll/age. Manifeste, Aktionsvorträge und Essays von Wolf Vostell, neoAvantgarden, Bd. 3, edition text + kritik: München 2014, ISBN 978-3-86916-260-7.
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ian Chilvers & John Glaves-Smith, A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art. Oxford University Press, p. 742
- ↑ Salter, Chris (2010). Entangled: Technology and the Transformation of Performance. MIT Press. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-262-19588-1.
- ↑ Electronic Dé-coll/age Happening Room, 1968
- ↑ Nouvelles de l'estampe, 1982, n°63, p. 17-24.
- ↑ Selection of works - Wolf Vostell the 1950s
- ↑ Cycle Black Room 1958 Installation with TV
- ↑ Wolf Vostell Rue de Buci 1960 Dé-coll/age
- ↑ Ihr Kandidat 1961, Dé-coll/age
- ↑ Selection of works - Wolf Vostell the 1960s
- ↑ Wolf Vostell, Marilyn Monroe, 1962, Dé-coll/age, Walker Art Center
- ↑ Wolf Vostell, Marilyn Monroe, 1963, Dé-coll/age
- ↑ 6 TV De-coll/age, 1963
- ↑ Wolf Vostell Miss Amerika 1968, Museum Ludwig
- ↑ B-52-statt Bomben//B-52 Instead of Bombs, 1968
- ↑ Selection of works - Wolf Vostell the 1970s
- ↑ Wolf Vostell, Heuschrecken, 1970
- ↑ „VOAEX“, 1976 Museo Vostell Malpartida
- ↑ Wolf Vostell, Die Winde/The Winds, 1981
- ↑ Selection of works - Wolf Vostell the 1980s
- ↑ Selection of works - Wolf Vostell the 1990s
- ↑ Wolf Vostell Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie
- ↑ Wolf Vostell. Leben = Kunst = Leben, Kunstgalerie Gera, E.A. Seemann, 1993, ISBN 3-363-00605-5
- ↑ Wolf Vostell – Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
External links
- The Vostell Museum in Malpartida de Cáceres, Spain
- Fotos and videos about Wolf Vostell
- ArtNet Profile, Focus on paintings
- List of some works
- Wolf Vostell at ifa
- Latest news about Wolf Vostell Shows
- About Wolf Vostell - english text
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