Since the early 1970s, Marina Abramovic (b.1946) has pioneered the use of performance as a visual art form, exploring her physical and emotional limits in some of the most iconic works in contemporary art. Her body is her primary subject and medium, from the early sound-based performances in her native Yugoslavia, to her collaborative works with German artist Ulay (Frank Uwe Laysiepen), her videos exploring her Balkan heritage, and most recently her re-enactments of historical performances by fellow artists such as Vito Acconci, Bruce Nauman and Valie Export.
Abramovic features prominently in virtually every survey of performance art, and her works are held in the permanent collections of the world’s most prestigious museums, including the Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris; the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. In 2005 at New York’s Guggenheim Museum Abramovic staged a landmark week-long series of performances entitled Seven Easy Pieces. Her twelve-day ‘living installation’ The House with The Ocean View was on numerous critics’ lists as the best exhibition of 2002, and she was awarded the Golden Lion at the 1997 Venice Biennale for her video installation/performance Balkan Baroque.
Kristine Stiles’s Survey covers the artist’s remarkable career, from her early days in Belgrade to her collaboration with Ulay and her most recent film and performance works. In the Interview Klaus Biesenbach discusses with the artist her motivations and influences, as well as the role of performance art today. Chrissie Iles’s Focus looks at the durational performance The House with The Ocean View, in which the artist spent twelve consecutive days in a confined space at a gallery in New York. Artist’s Choice features an excerpt from French writer Alexandra David-Néel’s log about her visit to Tibet in the 1920s and the magic rituals she witnessed there. Artist’s Writings include early interviews, proposals for unrealized projects and diary entries, providing an overview of the artist’s thinking on the subjects of art, performance and experience.