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OHO Research

OHO Group, David Nez: Jeklena džungla / The steelwool jungle, 1970
(black-and-white print)
Co ...
OHO Group, Milenko Matanović: Žito in vrvica / Wheat and rope, 1969
(black-and-white print) 
 ...
OHO Group, Andraž Šalamun: Skulpture iz mavca in železa / Sculptures made of plaster and iron,  ...
OHO Group, David Nez: Projekt / Project, 1970
(black-and-white print)
Collection of Moderna g ...
Milenko Matanović next to his works, Exhibition: Atelje '69. Matanović, Nez in Šalamun,
Modern ...
OHO Group, David Nez: Jeklena džungla / The steelwool jungle, 1970
(black-and-white print)
Co ...
OHO Group, David Nez: Jeklena džungla / The steelwool jungle, 1970 (black-and-white print) Collection of Moderna galerija, Ljubljana / Photo: Courtesy of Moderna galerija, Ljubljana
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OHO, active between 1965 and 1971, was one of the most significant artists’ groups in Slovenia during the 1960s. Its most prominent members were Marko Pogačnik, Andraž Šalamun, David Nez, and Milenko Matanović. Their relatively brief period of artistic activity as a group can be divided into multiple phases: the extended OHO group existed from 1965 to 1968 and the reduced OHO group from 1969 to 1971, with the Šempas family then continuing from 1971 to 1979. Their main artistic concept, called “reism,” stood alongside land art and Arte Povera as a principle that was crucial to their work. There have so far been only few attempts to approach the OHO phenomenon as a whole due to the fact that their works have since been scattered among various public and private collections. However, the Ljubljana-born artist and philosopher Luka Savić has now set out to research the various stages of OHO’s activities and will undertake a hermeneutic interpretation of the main OHO concepts by probing their fundamental ideas and positions from a present-day perspective.

Departing from “reism” as initial core reference, recent notions of pan-democracy such as Bruno Latour’s “Parliament of Things” theory are to be given a renewed look. The group’s ecological approach, in which they established dialogue with the artistic avant-garde of their era, gave rise to works and activities that employed simple tools and ephemeral, minimal interventions. Within this framework, the concept of dematerialized art will be analyzed—in part via research pertaining to international reception including that of the young generation. In the context of OHO’s radically transdisciplinary and collectivist approach, any clear definition of authorship was actively softened while the perception of only male protagonists continued to dominate. This reexamination of their various activities will therefore also scrutinize the role played by female participants.

https://www.kontakt-collection.org/people/63/oho?ctx=f0fce6bfdc1c128b88684c4916be7165c69ef082&idx=0