CONCRETE CADILLACS – Wolf Vostell’s Anti-Monument to the Consumer Society

In 1987, on the occasion of Berlin’s 750th anniversary, the monumental sculpture 2 concrete Cadillacs in the shape of the Naked Maya was realised on the traffic-flooded central island of Rathenauplatz as one of eight large sculptures by international artists on the sculpture boulevard Kurfürstendamm / Tauentzien. Even before its completion, it became a political issue and the talk of the town in pre-reunification West Berlin. Intended as a cautionary “anti-monument” to the consumer and automobile society”, the two US cars in the concrete shell provoked protest demonstrations, counter-art works and a ‘citizens’ initiative against modern art’.

Image caption: Wolf Vostell, 2 concrete Cadillacs in the shape of Naked Maja by Goja at night, 1987 © VG Bild Kunst / Wolf Vostell Estate, photo: Philipp John, © museum FLUXUS+, 2022.