Page 193 - ART GIANTS issue of World of Art (WOA) Contemporary Art Magazine

WORLD-CLASS ART KATALIN LADIK:

OOOOOOOOO-PUS

Moderna Museet Stockholm presents Ooooooooo-pus, the
first major survey exhibition of Katalin Ladik in Scandinavia,
featuring around 100 works spanning her remarkable six-
decade career. A pioneer in experimental poetry, sound,
and performance art, Ladik is often referred to as the “Yoko
Ono of the Balkans” for her groundbreaking approach to
language and embodied expression.
Born in 1942 in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia (now Serbia), and
Katalin Ladik. Photo: My Matson /Moderna Museet.
currently based in Budapest, Ladik’s practice is deeply
influenced by the multicultural and multilingual landscape Each of the three galleries in the exhibition is infused with
of her hometown. As one of the few women in Novi a curated soundscape drawn from Ladik’s sound poetry. he
Sad’s avant-garde scene, she forged a unique path that first section explores her innovative language-based works,
challenged artistic conventions. where she transforms everyday materials,including sewing
"First, and above all, I am a poet," Ladik has stated. "I patterns, sheet music, and electronic circuit boards, into
constantly try to expand the boundaries of poetry. Whatever striking collages. With her extraordinary vocal range, she
medium I use, voice, collage, or performance, it is always an interprets these collages as musical scores, adding another
extension of poetic expression." Ooooooooo-pus is as much layer of meaning to her poetic constructions.
about listening as it is about seeing.
Katalin Ladik, Genesis 1–11, 1975/2016 © Katalin Ladik. Photo: My Matson
/Moderna Museet

WORLD of ART 201