An event organized by the Austrian Ludwig Foundation

Artist Jann Haworth will be in conversation with art historian Jo Applin, discussing her artistic practice with a focus on her soft sculptures, including Snake Lady (1969–71). Closely associated with British Pop Art and the countercultural spirit of 1960’s Swinging London, Haworth’s work draws on Hollywood film production practices and domestic textile techniques. Her textile sculpture Old Lady (1962) is one of a handful of female representations that appear on the cover of the famous Beatles album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” which Haworth designed together with British artist Peter Blake. From the 1960s to the present day, Haworth’s practice has been based on a de-hierarchical understanding of artistic agency, which is not only expressed through her interest in popular culture and everyday situations, „low art“ materials including fabric, cardboard, or vinyl, and craft techniques such as sewing and patchwork but also in collaborative projects realized with different members of the community.  

Jann Haworth’s Snake Lady was acquired by the Austrian Ludwig Foundation in 2021 and is on permanent loan to mumok. The work is on view at mumok’s collection exhibition Mapping the 60s until September 7, 2025.

The talk will be in English.
Participation is free of charge, please register as seating is limited.

Jo Applin is Walter H. Annenberg Professor in the History of Art at The Courtauld, London. She is an editor of Oxford Art Journal and the author of numerous articles as well as several publications, including Lee Lozano: Not Working (Yale University Press, 2018), Eccentric Objects: Rethinking Sculpture in 1960s America (Yale University Press, 2012), and Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirror Room-Phalli’s Field (Afterall and MIT Press, 2012). She is currently writing about art and ageing since the 1960s, in which she discusses Haworth’s soft sculptures.

Jann Haworth has worked as an artist and educator since the 1960s both in the UK and US. Since 1997 Haworth and Liberty Blake have collaborated on a number of educational projects. These include creating arts facilities, an arts-based Charter School, Recycling Hot Glass Studio in Sundance, Utah, Arts Lab for The Leonardo, Utah, and most recently the Work in Progress mural project (2016–present). The project consists of images created with the public in guided workshops, which are then collaged on to panels by Liberty Blake. The mural now consists of 24 panels and is 30 meter in length. Haworth’s works are represented in international collections—such as mumok, Vienna; Ludwig Forum Aachen, Germany; Pallant House Gallery, Chichester and Tate, UK; Hirshhorn Museum, Washington DC and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA. Her work has been shown in group and solo exhibitions since the 1960s, including Gazelli Art House, London and Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, UK; Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris and MAMAC, Nice, France; MORE Museum, Gorssel, The Netherlands; mumok and Kunsthalle, Vienna.

Jann Haworth, Snake Lady, 1969–71
Photo: mumok © Jann Haworth