Ovartaci – I started as a bird of paradise
The world of art was a free space and an existential necessity. In the spring of 2026, we will tell the captivating story of Ovartaci, who gave her all to win respect for art – and from her surroundings.
Discover Ovartaci’s (1894-1985) mysterious narratives and her spellbinding, surreal expression.
Her fantastical universe is populated by strange, demonic creatures and women in high heels, radiating a zest for life, yearning and solidarity.
For six decades, and under exceptional conditions, Ovartaci created an oeuvre that is unique in the history of Danish art. Her artistry will now also earn a chapter in the canon of international art history. The exhibition will map its connections to the CoBrA movement and the art brut genre, highlighting tolerance, transgenderism and the transformative potential of art.
With intensity and presence, the exhibition will raise topical questions about humanity and powerlessness, mental well-being and identity formation. At the core of Ovartaci’s oeuvre is a yearning to be free, loved and accepted.
Unconditionally, and not despite, but because of the person you are.
Photo: Ovartaci, no title, no year. Private property. Photographer: Ole Akhøj
About the artist
Ovartaci was a colourful, complex person – a self-taught artist, poet and engineer. An adventurer and a dreamer. An intellectual, a psychiatric patient and a trained craftsman. She was a winter swimmer, a yogi and a nature lover. She believed in Buddhism, animism and reincarnation, and drew inspiration from her countless former lives.
Her oeuvre is inextricably linked with her own life story, which included a nervous breakdown in Argentina, self-administered gender amputation and an unresolved dream of living a life as a woman. For a total of 56 years, she lived as a patient in a psychiatric hospital: mainly in Risskov, north of Aarhus.
About the exhibition
The exhibition was first presented at the CoBrA Museum in Amsterdam in the spring of 2023 under the title Becoming Ovartaci. In collaboration with Kunstmuseum Brandts and Museum Ovartaci in Aarhus, Kunsten Museum of Modern Art is now presenting the exhibition for a Danish audience. The exhibition will be accompanied by a research-based catalogue published in collaboration with Kunstmuseum Brandts.
Exhibition and catalogue supported by
