Between 1954 and 1988, Wolf Vostell staged more than 50 happenings in which spectators became participants. His abandonment of the studio in favour of the street marked a pioneering development in European performance art. It also enabled him to involve ordinary people in the artistic process and to move them to play a more creative role in society.
Biography
1932 born in Leverkusen
1950–1957 apprenticeship as lithographer; École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts, Paris; Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
1954 „Skelett“ is the first European happening; lives in Köln
1962 co-founder of the FLUXUS-Bewegung
1962, 1964, 1966 travels to New York, happenings in New York
1968 participation in the Biennial of Venice
1971 removal to Berlin, foundation of the Happening Archiv Berlin
1974/1975 retrospectives in Paris and Berlin
1976 opening of the Museo Vostell in Malpartida de Cáceres (Spain)
1977 participation in the documenta 6, Kassel
1998 died in Berlin
