Marina Abramovic

Marina Abramovic is commonly known as the grandmother of performance art. She was born in November 1946 and is Serbian. She currently resides in New York. Her career started in the 1970s and is still thriving. Abramovic attended the Academy for Fine Arts in Belgrade where she started her career in performance art (Sean Kelly Gallery). Throughout her career, she has taught art to many students on top of winning some awards. 

Marina Abramovic 

Marina Abramovic really analyzed the physical body in her art performances. Nudity was not an uncommon occurrence in her pieces. Marina "often used the body as an artistic medium because it circumvented the conventions of both art and language." (Chadwick, pg. 366).The audience interacting with her pieces really spoke a lot regarding societal conditions and reflected patriarchy. When she started in the 1970s, society was still growing. Women started to become more independent, however patriarchy was still clearly thriving like it is today. The LGBTQ community at this time was still very much in the closet, but Abramovic does not touch the queer community in her performances. 


A significant piece Abramovic performed was Rhythm 0 in 1974. The medium was through her body. 72 objects were placed on a table with the audience told they could do as they please with these objects. She was standing still in the room with the objects. Examples of objects on the table are: a gun, a bullet, a flower, a chain, rope, a boa, and sharp objects. 

Marina Abramovic, Rhythm 0 (1974-2001)

The audience started slow, by just handing her a flower to hold and anything else harmless. The piece escalated to someone putting a bullet in the gun and having her point it at herself. She eventually became topless due to the demands of the audience as well as having writing over her body. Her performance was an emotional one for her, as you can clearly see, because she had tears streaming down her face. This piece was significant in her work because this really was a breakthrough. There has not been a performance art like this before. 

Marina Abramovic Rhythm 0 (1974)

Abramovic had a 12 year long relationship with another artist Ulay. His given name is Frank Uwe Laysiepen. (Rookie). These two artists did many pieces together, including a break up piece. In 1977, they did a piece together called "Imponderabilia". Abramovic and Ulay stood naked facing each other in a small hallway. Those who went to the performance had to walk between the two to enter. This analyzed how people faced and walked through. In 1980, they did a performance called "Rest Energy". This had Ulay leaning back holding an arrow, and Marina on the opposite side holding the bow. This displayed a great amount of trust between the two. In 1988, their break up piece was meeting on the Great Wall of China in 1988. Their break up piece is called " The Lovers". They recently had a reunion in 2010 during Abramovic's "The Artist is Present". In this piece Marina sat at a table and invited the audience to sit across from her. One person from the audience was Ulay. This was a 22 year reunion that was highly emotional.

Abramovic "The Artist is Present" (2010) Ft. Ulay

Abramovic and Ulay "Imponderabilia" (1977)

Marina Abramovic's work is still reflected in current time with the Marina Abramovic Institution. This institution encourages contemporary artists and hosts events.





Chadwick, Whitney. "Feminist Art in North America and Britain." Women, Art, and Society. 4th ed. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1990. Print.

"Documenting the Performance Art of Marina Abramović in Pictures | Art | Agenda | Phaidon." Phaidon. Web. 2 Apr. 2015. <http://www.phaidon.com/agenda/art/picture-galleries/2010/march/22/documenting-the-performance-art-of-marina-abramovi-in-pictures/?idx=2>.

"Marina Abramović." Sean Kelly Gallery. Web. 2 Apr. 2015. <http://www.skny.com/artists/marina-abramovi/>.

"Rookie » Hero Status: Marina Abramović and Ulay." Rookie. Web. 2 Apr. 2015. <http://www.rookiemag.com/2014/05/hero-status-abramovic-ulay/>.

"TERRA COMUNAL TEST HOME." Marina Abramovic Institute. Web. 2 Apr. 2015. <http://www.mai-hudson.org/>.