Andraž Šalamun Reflects on OHO Group Dynamics in ARTMargins Interview

ARTMargins Online published an exclusive interview with Andraž Šalamun, a former member of the Ljubljana-based OHO Group, on July 27, 2013. Šalamun described the group's formation as a matter of destiny and characterized their collaborative structure as new and independent from prior individual works. Within the collective, one member would typically take the lead at different moments, pulling others into creative directions. The group worked continuously, selecting pieces for exhibitions rather than creating specifically for shows. Šalamun recalled their approach to events as more intuitive than theoretical. Following the group's dissolution, which he described as a necessary parting of ways, Šalamun returned to painting. He had graduated from the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana and later lived in Koper on the Slovene coast. His artistic practice evolved from abstract painting in the 1970s to large canvases with animal subjects influenced by Italian Transavanguardia in the 1980s. The OHO Group, active since the late 1960s, included Milenko Matanovič, David Nez, Marko Pogačnik, and Šalamun, and collaborated with the broader Slovene OHO Movement.