After an apprenticeship as photolithographer Wolf Vostell studied at the Wuppertal "Werkkunstschule" from 1954 to 1955. He traveled extensively and in 1954 Paris developed the concept of "décollage" made from torn billboards, which subsequently also determined his later oeuvre. After further studies at the Paris "École des Beaux-Arts" and a disappointing return to the Düsseldorf academy, the artist decided in 1958 that art must take place in the street and integrated the audience in his first happenings.
Together with Maciunas and Paik, Wolf Vostell was one of the first members of "Fluxus" in 1962, fighting for an identification of life with art. Vostell's prints, videos, environments and installations such as "Fluxus-Zug - das mobile Museum Vostell" (1981) were always influenced by socio-political motives and must be understood as a form of his commitment to the design of public spaces.
Wolf Vostell's creative work was accompanied by numerous exhibitions. In 1974 Vostell's first large retrospective was mounted in the "Musée d'art Moderne de la Ville de Paris". In 1977 the artist participated at "documenta 6" in Kassel. Finally, Vostell also designed architectural models, including one for the museum he founded in Malpartida in Sourthern Spain.
Until his death in 1998 Vostell mainly lived in Paris, Berlin and Andalusia.