Allan Kaprow

Allan Kaprow is known as one of the most famous pioneers of art. He was a painter and a performance artist, he is also the creator of “happenings”. Born in 1927, he began his education in boarding school and then pursued his education in the arts. He received his master’s degree in art history, he taught for a little while, and after he started his studio art career. During this time he became less focused on the object of painting, but the action itself. These actions lead to the creation of the happenings.

In the beginning, the happenings were very scripted. Here the audience and the performers had to do certain things to experience the art. Kaprow said that the happenings were “events that, put simply, just happen”. His happenings were a form of interactive art, a way for the audience and the artist to physically see and react to the piece, the audience could become the art. As time went on, the happenings evolved and became less scripted. In all of Kaprow’s happenings, his main focus was to encourage the audience to make their own connections to the happening and have their very own unique experience. Kaprow wanted to integrate art and life through his happenings, it allowed him to experiment with different things and still have the audience involved.