Exhibition: visual poetry in former Yugoslavia
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Kontakt, the Erste foundation’s art collective, explores art production in central, eastern and south-eastern Europe. The group focuses on the political transformation of post-socialist countries and the role art plays in this context.
In a current exhibition, three of the collective’s artists explore the relationship between textual and visual rhetoric in and after the 1970s with interdisciplinary works which play with visual art, poetry and sound. A sneak preview
'Selected folk songs', Katalin Ladik
Image: © Katalin Ladik, Ausgewählte Volkslieder 1 -10, 1973 – 1975
Katalin Ladik, 69, is most famous for her sound poetry, although her work ranges from collages through audio plays to outdoor performances and installations. Born in Novi Sad (today’s Serbia) the poet, performance artist and actress emigrated to Hungary in 1992. This collage comes from a 1973-1975 series entitled ‘Selected folk songs’ (‘Ausgewählte Volkslieder’), a collection of visual poetry composed of letters, sheet music, sewing patterns and magazine articles.
'Sonnet cycle', Vlado Martek
Image: © Vlado Martek, Ciklus Soneti/ Sonnett Zyklus/ Sonnet Cycle 1978-79
Vlado Martek, 60, styles himself a ‘pre-poet’. Since the early 1970s the Zagreb-born poet has attempted to ‘purify’ poetry, removing it from the binding of a book and making tools such as pencils, as well as poetic form, part of the artwork. The ‘Sonnets’ series from 1978-1979 reflects a sonnet’s typical structure of two stanzas of four lines followed by two stanzas of three.
'Rhythm', Neša Paripović
Image: © Neša Paripović, Rhythm, 1980
Neša Paripović, 70, is one of the key figures in Serbia’s conceptual art landscape. His work reflects on the nature of art and the role of the artist through the media of photography, film, posters and language works. Shot with a static camera, his 1980 video work ‘Rhythm’ shows the artist putting layers of paint on a white surface by drumming his fingers on it.
‘Visual poetry from former Yugoslavia’ is on display from 3 September 2012, ERSTE Foundation, Friedrichstraße 10, 4th floor, 1010 Vienna. The exhibition can be viewed upon request. Curator Walter Seidl can be contacted on +43 50 100-19601 or walter.seidl@erstegroup.com. Alternatively, see their website for details.