Marina Abramovic: art beyond the limits of body and soul

Serbian conceptual artist, born in Belgrade on November 30, 1946. He studied at the academies of Belgrade and of zagabria. his research is oriented in the experimental field of Body Art investigating, even with violence, the physical and psychic limits of his body and mind (series rhythms, 1970-74). In 1975, established ad Amsterdam, she met her future partner Ulay (art name of Uwe laysiepen, n. Solingen 1943), with whom he worked until 1988 creating performances focused on the themes of suffering, considered a necessary cathartic path (Relation in movement, Biennial of Venezia 1976), or of love, retraced through a series of photographic images reproducing the artists in theatrical poses (Anima mundi and Modus vivendi, from 1983; etc.); contact with different cultures, through long journeys in India, in Australia, in Tibet, China, has made the performances of the A. and of Ulay who have reached deep meditative states (series Night sea crossing, 1982-84). After the last project developed together with Ulay, The Great Wall walk (1988), consisting in traveling, each starting from one end and meeting at the center, the Great Wall of China, the Abramovico' she continued her own research also aimed at analyzing the energy concentrated in stones and metals with a series of sculptures, 'objects transitional', of copper, quartz, etc., which involve the viewer, inviting him to search for that same energy (Green dragon, 1988; Black dragon, 1990). Between 1989 and 1994, in collaboration with Ch. Atlas (not. Saint Louis 1949) has elaborated Biography, a work that retraces, weaving together performances, video recordings of previous experiences, writings and photographs related to childhood or relationship with Ulay, its deepest motivations, the fundamental stages of its existence. Over the years his works expand over time: the synthesis is represented by  The Artist is Present (2010) al MoMA in New York and subsequently at the PAC in Milan, where for more than 700 hours over 3 months she stared silent and motionless at 1675 people who alternated in front of her, focusing on the value of an energetic and spiritual communication between artist and audience. He has presented his works in important international exhibitions: Documents of Kassel in 1978, 1982, 1992, and was invited to numerous editions of Venice Biennale where in 1997  she was awarded the Golden Lion as best artist for her extraordinary video installation/performance Balkans Baroque.  In 2003 he received il Bessie for The house with an ocean view, a 12-day performance at the Sean Kelly gallery in New York (from Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani). While from 21 September 2018 a major exhibition has been underway at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, Marina Abramovico' is already working in absolute secrecy, "for superstition" as he told reporters, preparing for a new performance which is expected to be held at Royal Academy of Arts from London in 2020.

Performance and exhibition activity

At the beginning of the 70s He completed his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. He begins to use the body as an artistic tool and to devote himself to sound and performing art. In 1973meets Joseph beuys and her happenings affect her deeply. You collaborate with Hermann Nitsch. In the same year he presents the performance Rhythm 10 at the Villa Borghese Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome. in 1975 vin Amsterdam to participate in an international meeting of performing artists and knows you the German artist Ulay (Frank Uwe laysiepen, born in 1943). That becomes his life and work partner. In the following two years Marina e Ulay create the series Relationship Works. They write the manifesto Compaction Vital, which sets the direction of their artistic practice. They decide they are in perpetual motion and for the next three years live and work in a van, while traveling all over Europe. in 1980 The couple moved into an apartment in Amsterdam, integrating themselves into the artistic life of the city. They go to Australia where they live for nine months with the tribe Pintupi in the Great Victoria Desert. Influenced by Aboriginal culture, they create the performance Nightsea Crossing. in 1982 Nightsea Crossing is set up at Documenta 7 by Kassel and in other museums and exhibition spaces in Cologne, Düsseldorf, Berlin, Amsterdam, Chicago and Toronto. To practice the meditative technique vipassana, AbramovicoAnd Ulaythey go to bodhgaya, India, where they meet the Dalai Lama and his main mentor, the Living BuddhaKyabje Ling Rinpoche. in 1985 in Florence, Gastkünstlern at Villa Romana, Marina e Ulay try (together with Mr Mondo and to Michael Laub) the play Very fragile, which should have been staged at the Teatro Niccolini: the Florentine execution does not take place, but the work is presented in Amsterdam and Stockholm. The following year Marina e Ulay si recanoin China for the first time. From the time of travel inoutback Australian 1980 the two work on the project of a performance along the Great Wall of China. In 1988 dfter much preparation, the walk along the Great Wall of China to the opera begins The Lovers. Marina starts from the eastern end of the Wall, while Ulay starts from the western side and proceeds in the opposite direction. The performance marks the definitive conclusion of their relationship and artistic collaboration, which lasted twelve years. Marina's new works Abramovicó by itself are a series of interactive objects, known as Transitors Objects. The works are exhibited in 1989, among others, at Museum of Modern Art of Oxford, allo Stadtische Kunsthalle of Dusseldorf et al Museum of ModernArt of Montreal. In 1990 Marina yes moves to Paris, keeping the apartment in Amsterdam. She is invited to participate in the famous exhibition Magicians of the earth al Centre Pompidusu of Paris. A little later it is set up in the same museum The Lovers. The work The Biographydirected by Charles Atlas, in 1992 it was represented for the first time in Madrid and subsequently at Documenta 9 by Kassel. In '95 a retrospective of his is staged al Museum of Modern Art of Oxford. In '97 è invited to represent Serbia and Montenegro in the Yugoslav Pavilion of the Venice Biennale, but interrupts the collaboration in contrast on the subject of the work. The memorable performance Balkans Baroque, inspired by the drama of the war in Bosnia, is then set up, with great sensation, in a basement of the Central Pavilion in the Giardini and is awarded the Golden Lion. in 2002 The House With the Ocean View is presented at the Sean Kelly Gallery in New York: Marina spends twelve days in silence, fasting and total exposure, always in front of the public. Seven Easy Pieces is presented to Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of New York in 2005. The work consists of seven reinterpretations of performances by the artists, Vito Acconci, Bruce Nauman, Gina Pane, Josef beuys and of the same Abramovicó. The project is the result of his work on re-performances, designed to preserve the performances. In the same year presents Balkans Erotic Epic at Hangar Bicocca in Milan. in 2010 il MoMA of New York inaugurates the great retrospective The Artist is Present, with many re-performances of his works and for the entire duration of the exhibition proposes the new and intense The Artist is Present. In the same year he founded the Marina Abramović Institute (MAI), with the aim of operating through the sciences, to create a theoretical and practical platform of performance art. The next year The Artist is Present is set up at the Garage Center for Contemporary Cultures of Moscow and La playautobiographical The Life and Death of Marina Abramović is performed for the first time at the Manchester International Festival. in 2012 the documentary Marina Abramović: The Artist isPresent is presented to Sundance Movie Festivals. The exposure Marina Abramovicó, BalkansStories is organized at Kunsthalle of Vienna. In 2017 Marina Abramovicó. the Cleaner is presented at the Moderna The museum of Stockholm. The retrospective then moves to Louisiana Museum ofModern Article a Humlebaek, in Denmark and the Bundeskunsthalle of Bonn, Germany. In September 2018 it was staged at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence a great exhibition that, with over 100 works offers an overview of the artist's entire career, from the XNUMXs to the XNUMXs, through videos, photographs, paintings, objects, installations and the rerun live of his famous performances.

Transfer market – the performances enter the collections

In the 90s the Ludwig Museum of Cologne bought a short smile of the American artist James Lee Byars"The Perfect Smile”: this is one of the first performances to enter a museum collection. Actions and representations staged by artists have long been no longer the sole domain of the theatre; museums and galleries have also become channels for the presentation, marketing and collecting of performative and intangible works such as that of Byars, with great protagonists from Vito Acconci to Marina Abramovico. But the way to buy performance is changing. If until now the documentation (videos and photographs) or memorabilia left after the action was bought, now the collecting of the actual action is establishing itself and different ways of selling are being experimented. The very essence of performance is changing: it is less and less self-referential and more and more aimed at the public. More and more present in the fairs from Frieze London to the Italians Artissima e Miart. Marina's work fits into this framework Abramovico whose quotations reached a peak in 2014/2015 with excellent performances in international auctions (52% in the USA) and in its reference galleries. Then, after a brief pause for reflection, prices slowly started to grow again. To date – second Artprice – there are over 150 passages of his works in various types at auction (over half photos of his performances and about 20% sculptures) with a percentage of sold of about 85% and a turnover that in 2017 exceeded by far, only in auctions, the 100 thousand dollars.

Gallery: In Italy Navy Abramovico is represented by Leah Room in Milan (02-29000101) and Naples (081-19812354). Outside work with Lisson of London and Sean Kelly of New York).

Pricing: In the gallery his works can be purchased within a range prices ranging from 30 to over 150 thousand euros, depending on the types, techniques, dimensions and year of execution. The prices of medium and large photographic works (especially documentations of his performances) usually in editions of 7 or 9 runs they start at around 50/70 thousand euros.

Top Price at auction: “Performance, Art must be beautiful, Artist must be beautiful”, 1975 Photography, Ed. 3 / 16 (15 elements), had the auctioneer's hammer stopped at 327.040 euros (rights included) by Christie's in New York in May 2015. A few years earlier, in May 2011”Chair for Non-Human Use", 1996, a large sculpture (coated iron and clear quartz crystal) of 700 x 150 x 150 cm. has always changed hands since Christie's New York at 252.590 euros.

Cover image

Marina Abramovic meets Ulay

The Artist is present, 2012

Source image: news.artnet.com