Franz West

Emerging in the early 1970s, Austrian artist Franz West (1947-2012) created objects that serve to redefine art as a social experience, calling attention to how viewers interact with works of art and with each other. The 1990s proved critical in the development of the idiosyncratic style for which West is still known today. Key innovations from this period--which included the addition of exuberant color to his papier-mâché forms, the incorporation of furniture both as art object and as social incubator, and the inclusion of work by other artists in his own installations--resulted in dynamic, frequently interactive installations that helped to redefine the possibilities of sculpture and the ways in which art is experienced. This publication gives an in-depth overview of this decade, arguably the most important of the artist's lengthy career, and features essays by noted West scholars Eva Badura-Triska and Veit Loers.