Marina Abramovic, pronounced [marǐːna abrǎːmoʋitɕ], is a Serbian conceptual + performance artist, writer, + art filmmaker known specifically for her avant-garde performance pieces + the use of her own body as both material + subject for her own work. Born November 30, 1946, Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now in Serbia) Abramovic grew up in her homeland, raised by her parents both of whom fought as Partisans in WWII, later going on to be employed by the communist government of Josip Broz Tito. Escaping her unsettling + abusive home life, she decided to attend the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade to study painting. However within a short time she came to understand the importance + relevance of performance art for which her love + passion naturally made it’s way into her creative sphere as her strongest medium of expression + the one that would bring her career to the forefront, making her the worlds most notable + celebrated performance artist of the 21st century.
In her most prolific work, Abramovic has used her own physical form in dramatic ways to test the sufferance + restrictions of her body + mind. One of her initial performative pieces was Rhythm 0 (1974) in which she stood completely still in a room for 6 hours amid 72 other objects of her choice, ranging from a rose to a loaded gun. As guests entered the room they were encouraged to do whatever they wished toward her with any of the objects. This was the beginning of the controversy that would surround her work for many years to come, not only due to the nature of the piece but also her total nudity during the 6 hours.
Moving to Amsterdam in 1975 she began collaborating with German artist Ulay who, with a similar liking to proactive artist experiences, she created another one of her most talked about pieces. In Imponderabilia (1977), the two artists stood naked in an extremely narrow corridor in a museum, facing each other. In order for visitors of the exhibition to move through the piece to the next room they were forced to slip by the naked bodies of the artist + in doing so chose who to face so intimately. Ulay + Abramovic continued to explore gender identity in their collaborations throughout their years of working together.
Struggling to make her mark on the industry in any lasting and reputable manner came to a abrupt end, when in 1997, she won the Golden Lion for best artist at the Venice Biennale, an accolade that raised her profile in ways she hadn’t previously imagined. Another moment that caught the attention of world, both inside and out the art world was in bringing The House with the Ocean View (2002) to life. In this piece Abramovic created a gallery installation in which she lived by herself with severe abstention + deprivation, all the while exposed in three transparent cubes mounted to the gallery wall for 12 days straight.
Seeing the honour she deserved, MoMA held a large retrospective of the artists work titled, The Artist is Present, in 2010. As part of the presentation she debuted an eponymous performance piece which was staged in a large room at the infamous museum. The piece consisted solely of the artist + two chairs. Sitting in one, she remained in complete silence every day as visitors to the exhibit were invited to sit with her in the available seat, staying for as long as they wished, staring at her as she did nothing but gaze back. Seeking to call to the surface emotions from deep within that only such a silence + space in a strangers company could evoke, the exhibition proved hugely popular at a human level + there were constant lines formed just to get in. It ran for a solid three months in which she turned up every single day, sitting for the whole 7-hour opening time of the museum. From that came the documentary, The Artist Is Present, which chronicled the preparations for piece along with what followed which was her work suddenly sitting in the spotlight the world over.
Considering the fact that, as primarily a performance artist, it’s difficult, if not completely impossible, to own or show work that holds any monetary value or life beyond their original stagings, Abramovic can hold pride in a career that has spanned four decades with her work touching the lives + should of varying group of people far + wide. Her pioneering work has ultimately paved the way for artists + appreciators as a way to ask bigger questions - both of themselves + of the external pressures + societal conforms that either restrict or liberalise the mind. Her innate hunger to challenge these restrictions, whether real or perceived, has won her a place as one of the most remarkable, brave + significant artists of our time.
She currently lives and works in New York.
All images my own, taken at the Marina Abramovic exhibit at the RA, 2023
