Marina Abramović

Marina Abramović
Born	(1946-11-30) November 30, 1946 Belgrade, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia
Occupation(s)	Conceptual artist, performance artist
Years active	1970s–present
Known for	Performance art, body art, endurance art

Marina Abramović (; born November 30, 1946) is a conceptual and performance artist of Serbian origin who identifies as ex-Yugoslavian. Her artistic practice centers on body art, endurance, the dynamic between performer and audience, as well as exploring physical boundaries and mental capacities. Having been active for more than forty years, Abramović refers to herself as the "grandmother of performance art." She broke new ground by integrating audience interaction and confronting themes such as pain, blood, and the limits of the human body. In 2007, she established the Marina Abramović Institute (MAI), a non-profit organization devoted to performance art.

Early life

Born in Belgrade, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia on November 30, 1946, Abramović characterized her family background as part of the "Red bourgeoisie." Her great-uncle was Varnava, Serbian Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Both of her parents, Danica Rosić and Vojin Abramović, were members of the Yugoslav Partisans during World War II and later held roles within the postwar Yugoslav government.

Until she was six years old, she was raised by her grandparents and spent considerable time attending church services in accordance with her grandmother’s practices. Following her brother’s arrival, she lived with her parents and took lessons in piano, French, and English. Although she never received formal art education during childhood, she displayed an early fascination with painting.

Life under her mother’s strict control was challenging; Abramović recalled being punished for "showing off" and was not permitted to stay out past 10 p.m. until she reached 29 years of age. She pointed out that all her initial performances in Yugoslavia took place before this curfew. In a 2013 interview, she described her parents’ marriage as "terrible," recounting a distressing episode when her father smashed champagne glasses and left the home—an event she labeled as the "most horrible moment" of her youth.

Education and teaching career

Abramović pursued her studies at the Academy of Fine Arts, Belgrade from 1965 through 1970 and completed postgraduate work under Krsto Hegedušić at the University of Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts in 1972. Upon returning to SR Serbia, she taught at the Academy of Fine Arts in Novi Sad between 1973 and 1975 while initiating her first solo performance projects.

After marrying Neša Paripović (1970–1976), Abramović relocated to Amsterdam in 1976 following a performance there and decided to make it her permanent residence.

Between 1990 and 1995, she held visiting professorships at both the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris and the Berlin University of the Arts. From 1992 to 1996, she was on faculty at the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg, then served as professor of performance art at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig from 1997 until 2004.

Rhythm 10, 1973

In her inaugural Edinburgh performance in 1973, Abramović incorporated ritualistic components involving ten knives and two tape recorders. She engaged in a variation of the Russian knife game by stabbing between her fingers while recording each cut with a distinct knife. After inflicting ten cuts, she played back the recording and attempted to imitate both the sounds and movements captured earlier, thereby blending past actions with present ones. This piece examined physical endurance and mental focus by emphasizing pain, auditory elements, and heightened performer awareness. She highlighted that achieving a particular state during performance enables transcending ordinary bodily limitations.

Rhythm 5, 1974

During this piece, Abramović set ablaze a large five-pointed star soaked in petroleum, representing both mental and physical cleansing while alluding to her political history. Positioned outside the flaming star, she proceeded to trim her nails, toenails, and hair, casting the cuttings into the fire, with each flare producing bursts of light. In the concluding moment, she jumped into the star's center but lost consciousness due to oxygen deprivation. As the flames approached her motionless form, a physician stepped in to remove her.

Reflecting on the experience, Abramović stated: "I was deeply frustrated because I realized there is a physical boundary. Once you lose consciousness, you cannot remain present or perform."

Rhythm 2, 1974

Following her fainting episode in Rhythm 5, Abramović intentionally incorporated unconsciousness into Rhythm 2. Staged at Zagreb’s Gallery of Contemporary Art, Part I lasted for 50 minutes during which she ingested medication prescribed for catatonia, inducing intense muscle spasms and loss of bodily control while maintaining awareness. After a ten-minute pause, she consumed a second drug used to sedate aggressive schizophrenic patients. The performance ended after five hours when the effects wore off.

Rhythm 4, 1974

Presented at Milan’s Galleria Diagramma, Rhythm 4 involved Abramović kneeling naked before a powerful industrial fan, pushing her lung capacity until losing consciousness. Drawing from lessons in Rhythm 5, she instructed the cameraman to concentrate exclusively on her face to avoid audience distraction during unconsciousness. Nonetheless, after several minutes, the cameraman ceased filming and summoned assistance.

Rhythm 0, 1974

In Naples, Italy, Abramović undertook one of her most demanding performances, Rhythm 0, which explored the interaction between performer and audience by assuming a completely passive role. She arranged 72 items on a table—including a rose, honey, scissors, and a loaded gun—permitting the audience unrestricted use of these objects on her body over six hours. Initially passive spectators gradually became more aggressive, resulting in physical harm and degradation of Abramović’s body, which she described as embodying "Madonna, mother, and whore." This work revealed human vulnerability and aggression unleashed by lack of social restraint while examining female objectification and endurance thresholds.

Works with Ulay (Uwe Laysiepen)

After relocating to Amsterdam in 1976, Abramović met Ulay (Uwe Laysiepen), a West German artist; together they embarked on a decade-long partnership exploring themes of ego, identity, and ritual. They established the duo known as "The Other," presenting themselves as a "two-headed body" to investigate artistic self-examination. Their collaborations tested physical boundaries and analyzed male-female relationships, psychic energy exchange, and nonverbal communication.

Notable performances include:

• Relation in Space (1976): Repeated collisions merging masculine and feminine forces into a unified third presence.
• Relation in Movement (1977): Driving laps inside a museum that produced a black liquid sculpture symbolizing time.
• Relation in Time (1977): Sixteen continuous hours tied back-to-back by their ponytails; later disrupted by audience interference.
• Breathing In/Breathing Out: Sharing breath until oxygen depletion symbolized life exchange.
• Imponderabilia (1977): Nude performers blocking an entranceway compelling audience members to choose how to pass.
• AAA-AAA (1978): A vocal endurance piece where they moved closer until shouting directly into each other’s mouths.
• Rest Energy (1980): Balancing tension with an arrow aimed at Abramović’s heart representing male dominance over women while emphasizing mutual reliance.

Between 1981 and 1987, they performed Nightsea Crossing, sitting silently opposite one another for seven hours daily.

Their partnership concluded in 1988 with Lovers, a symbolic walk where each traveled approximately 2,500 km from opposite ends of the Great Wall of China until meeting halfway. This act represented their personal and professional separation after eight years negotiating permission with Chinese authorities.

At her MoMA retrospective in 2010, Abramović presented The Artist Is Present, sharing silent moments with visitors. A reunion with Ulay during this event attracted widespread media attention due to its emotional depth.

In November 2015, Ulay filed suit against Abramović for unpaid royalties under their 1999 agreement covering joint works. By September 2016, an Amsterdam court ordered Abramović to pay over €250,000 in back royalties plus legal fees. The judgment required crediting works from 1976–1980 as "Ulay/Abramović" and those from 1981–1988 as "Abramović/Ulay."

Cleaning the Mirror, 1995

Cleaning the Mirror presents five screens displaying Abramović as she meticulously cleans a soiled human skeleton resting in her lap. She energetically scrubs various sections—the skull, pelvis, ribcage, hands, and feet—with soapy water. Each screen emits its own audio track, resulting in a layered soundscape. Throughout the three-hour performance, as the skeleton is cleansed, Abramović gradually becomes coated with the gray residue that had covered the bones. This work draws inspiration from Tibetan death rituals that symbolize readiness for death. The performance unfolds in three segments: Cleaning the Mirror #1 (three hours) at the Museum of Modern Art, #2 (90 minutes) at Oxford University, and #3 (five hours) at Pitt Rivers Museum.

Spirit Cooking, 1996

In 1996, Abramović teamed up with Jacob Samuel to create Spirit Cooking, a cookbook featuring "aphrodisiac recipes" that function as poetic prompts for actions or reflections. Recipes include metaphorical ingredients such as "13,000 grams of jealousy" and instructions to blend "fresh breast milk with fresh sperm milk." Rooted in the idea that spirits consume intangible elements like emotions and light, this work merges mysticism with performative art.

A year later, Abramović expanded Spirit Cooking into a multimedia exhibit at Rome’s Zerynthia Associazione per l'Arte Contemporanea, where gallery walls were inscribed with cryptic and violent recipe-like directives painted using pig’s blood. This installation critiques humanity’s dependence on ritualistic practices to structure existence and regulate the body.

Additionally, Abramović published a Spirit Cooking cookbook containing comic-mystical self-help guidance resembling poetry. This concept evolved into exclusive dinner gatherings for collectors, patrons, and acquaintances—blending performance art with social interaction.

Balkan Baroque, 1997

In this intense performance, Abramović spent four days scrubbing thousands of bloody cow bones to symbolize the ethnic cleansing during the 1990s Balkan conflicts. The piece was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale.

Created as a response to the Yugoslav Wars, Abramović initially hesitated to confront the subject artistically due to its personal resonance. Upon returning to Belgrade, she interviewed her parents and a local rat-catcher; these narratives were incorporated into the work alongside footage showing her father’s hands gripping a pistol and her mother’s hands folded. Dressed in medical attire, she narrated the rat-catcher’s story while attempting to cleanse the bones.

The Venice presentation in 1997 was marked by oppressive heat and a pungent odor emanating from the bones, with worms appearing during the act. Abramović emphasized that removing blood stains was impossible—symbolizing how war’s shame cannot be erased. The piece serves as a universal reflection on war worldwide.

Seven Easy Pieces, 2005

Beginning November 9, 2005, Abramović staged Seven Easy Pieces at New York's Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, commissioned by Performa. Over seven consecutive evenings, she re-enacted works by five artists from the 1960s and 1970s, reprised her own Thomas Lips, and debuted a new piece on the final night. These performances demanded considerable physical endurance and mental concentration.

Notable moments included Gina Pane's The Conditioning, which involved reclining over lit candles, and Vito Acconci's provocative 1972 piece Seedbed. These reinterpretations paid tribute to influential predecessors though many were modified from their original forms. All performances were dedicated to her late friend Susan Sontag.

Performed works:

• Bruce Nauman's Body Pressure (1974)
• Vito Acconci's Seedbed (1972)
• Valie Export's Action Pants: Genital Panic (1969)
• Gina Pane's The Conditioning (1973)
• Joseph Beuys's How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare (1965)
• Abramović's Thomas Lips (1975)
• Abramović's Entering the Other Side (2005)

The Artist Is Present: March–May 2010

Between March 14 and May 31, 2010, the Museum of Modern Art presented an extensive retrospective alongside a live performance reenactment of Abramović's work. This event was the most significant performance art exhibition ever held at MoMA, curated by Klaus Biesenbach. The title chosen by Biesenbach highlighted the artist's continuous presence within the gallery space.

During this period, Abramović enacted The Artist Is Present, a silent performance lasting 736 hours in which she remained motionless in MoMA’s atrium, inviting visitors to sit opposite her. On opening night, Ulay made an unexpected appearance.

Positioned within a taped square on MoMA’s second-floor atrium beneath theatrical lighting, Abramović maintained eye contact with individual visitors who queued to sit across from her. The line quickly expanded, with some participants waiting overnight. While most visitors remained for less than five minutes, others stayed for several hours. Security personnel only intervened on the final day due to disturbances. Questions arose regarding how Abramović managed restroom breaks during extended sittings. Her only deviations involved emotional expressions and a brief moment of physical contact with Ulay. Throughout the performance, she engaged with 1,545 individuals including Klaus Biesenbach, James Franco, Lou Reed, Alan Rickman, Jemima Kirke, Jennifer Carpenter, and Björk; however, neither speech nor physical touch was permitted. The event concluded with Abramović standing to applause from an audience exceeding ten people in depth.

A Facebook group named "Sitting with Marina" was created to support participants, accompanied by the blog "Marina Abramović made me cry". Photographer Marco Anelli captured portraits of every sitter, which were shared on Flickr, later compiled into a book and exhibited at New York’s Danziger Gallery.

Abramović reflected that the exhibition profoundly altered her life. Following promotion by Lady Gaga, she attracted a younger demographic less familiar with performance art. In September 2011, Pippin Barr developed a video game inspired by the performance. In 2013, Complex ranked The Artist Is Present as the ninth greatest work in performance art history.

This performance served as inspiration for Australian author Heather Rose’s novel The Museum of Modern Love, which debuted at MoMA in 2018.

Balkan Erotic Epic: October 2025

Balkan Erotic Epic is a prolonged performance piece by Marina Abramović, staged at Factory International in Manchester from 9 to 19 October 2025. Building upon her 2005 multi-channel video work, this four-hour live presentation involved more than seventy performers across thirteen immersive tableaux, delving into themes of Balkan folklore, erotic ceremonies, and shared mythologies. The production highlighted ritualistic nudity, choreography spanning multiple spaces, and the reclamation of the body as a powerful and transformative entity.

Other

In 2009, Abramović was featured in Chiara Clemente's documentary and accompanying book Our City Dreams, which focuses on artists committed to New York City. She is also the central figure in the documentary Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present, which chronicles her 2010 retrospective performance at MoMA; this film aired on HBO and earned a Peabody Award in 2012. In January 2011, she appeared on the cover of the Serbian edition of ELLE. Her artistic influence is noted in Kim Stanley Robinson's novel 2312.

Abramović debuted an installation at Toronto's Trinity Bellwoods Park during the Luminato Festival in June 2013. She collaborated with Robert Wilson to create the theatrical work The Life and Death of Marina Abramović, which premiered in North America at Luminato and subsequently at the Park Avenue Armory.

In 2007, she established the nonprofit Marina Abramović Institute (MAI), dedicated to performance art within a 33,000-square-foot facility located in Hudson, New York, alongside a performance space in San Francisco. Additionally, she serves as a patron for London's Live Art Development Agency.

Her 2014 projects included 512 Hours at the Serpentine Gallery in London and Generator at Sean Kelly Gallery (December 2014), both examining audience participation through endurance challenges and sensory deprivation techniques.

To celebrate her 70th birthday in November 2016, Abramović presented "Marina 70" at the Guggenheim Museum, featuring a silent performance lasting seventy minutes, followed by a speech and live musical accompaniment.

In March 2015, she delivered a TED talk entitled "An art made of trust, vulnerability and connection."

In 2019, IFC’s mockumentary series Documentary Now! satirized her work and documentary with Cate Blanchett portraying a character inspired by Abramović.

Her inaugural major UK exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts was postponed from September 2020 to autumn 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The show included works spanning five decades of her career alongside new creations reflecting on themes of aging and mortality. It garnered widespread critical praise for its emotional depth and intensity.

In 2021, she dedicated the monument Crystal wall of crying at a Holocaust massacre site in Ukraine linked to Babi Yar memorials. Abramović publicly denounced the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In September 2023, she became the first female artist to hold a solo exhibition within the Royal Academy’s main galleries. Despite recovering from a near-fatal pulmonary embolism, she curated an exhibition that examined her legacy through archival footage, installations, and live performances by artists trained in her methodology.

A solo exhibition titled Transforming Energy is scheduled for 2026 at Venice's Gallerie dell'Accademia during its art biennale—marking the first time in its 275-year history that a living female artist will be featured there.

Unrealized Proposals

Abramović envisioned multiple solo projects that ultimately did not come to fruition. One such concept, named "Come to Wash with Me" (1969), entailed converting a gallery space into a laundromat where attendees would entrust her with their garments for washing, drying, and ironing before receiving them back. This idea was declined by the Galerija Doma Omladine in Belgrade.

In 1970, she submitted another proposal to the same venue involving her wearing outfits dictated by her mother, culminating in a staged self-shooting scene with two possible endings, one suggesting death. This project was also turned down.

Films

Abramović contributed directorial segments to film anthologies including Balkan Erotic Epic (2006) within Destricted and Dangerous Games (2008) featured in Stories on Human Rights. Additionally, she appeared in the short film Antony and the Johnsons: Cut the World.

Marina Abramović Institute

The Marina Abramović Institute (MAI) is dedicated to performance art with a focus on extended-duration pieces and the "Abramović Method". Initially, it was planned as a versatile museum located in Hudson, New York, after Abramović acquired a 1933 structure in 2007. The building, which previously served as a theater and community tennis facility, was set for renovation by architects Rem Koolhaas and Shohei Shigematsu from OMA.

Initial funding for the project came through Kickstarter, garnering support from over 4,000 backers, including celebrities Lady Gaga and Jay-Z. Despite this, the renovation plan was abandoned in October 2017 due to prohibitive expenses.

Currently, MAI functions as a nomadic entity collaborating with various institutions and artists worldwide, with activities held in countries such as Brazil, Greece, and Turkey.

Collaborations

At the outset of her career, Abramović engaged in performances associated with Viennese actionism led by Hermann Nitsch.

She shares a notable professional relationship with actor James Franco, who interviewed her for The Wall Street Journal in 2009. Franco attended her 2010 exhibition The Artist Is Present, and they appeared together at the 2012 Met Gala.

In July 2013, Abramović worked alongside Lady Gaga on the pop icon’s third studio album Artpop. Gaga’s collaborations with Abramović, Jeff Koons, and Robert Wilson were highlighted at the "ArtRave" event. Their partnership extended to supporting MAI initiatives, including Gaga’s involvement in an 'Abramović Method' instructional video and a continuous reading of Stanisław Lem’s science fiction novel Solaris.

That same month saw Jay-Z perform an Abramović-inspired piece at Pace Gallery in New York City by delivering his song "Picasso Baby" over six hours. The performance included Abramović and other art world personalities and was later transformed into a music video. She allowed Jay-Z to reinterpret "The Artist Is Present" under the condition he contribute financially to her institute; however, she later expressed disappointment over his failure to honor this commitment, describing it as a "one-way transaction." In 2015, after discovering his substantial donation, she issued a public apology.

Personal Life

Abramović identifies herself as a former Yugoslav, explaining, "When people ask me where I am from, I never say Serbia. I always say I come from a country that no longer exists."

In February 2025, she publicly supported the 2024–2025 Serbian anti-corruption protests, aligning with major social movements within the region.

She has undergone three abortions and has stated that having children would have been detrimental to her artistic pursuits.

Sculptor Nikola Pešić highlights Abramović's enduring fascination with esotericism and spiritualism.

Conspiracy theories related to occultism

Abramović's name appearing in the Podesta emails sparked conspiracy theories suggesting links to occult practices and satanism, particularly circulated by personalities such as Alex Jones. In a 2013 Reddit question-and-answer session, she explained that the interpretation of occult references depends on their artistic context.

In April 2020, Microsoft included Abramović in a promotional video for HoloLens 2, but later removed it after right-wing conspiracy groups accused her of satanic associations. Abramović called for an end to the harassment, underlining that her career is rooted in long-established performance art.

Awards

• ars viva, 1982
• Golden Lion, 47th Venice Biennale, 1997
• , 2002
• New York Dance and Performance Awards (The Bessies), 2002
• International Association of Art Critics, Best Exhibition in a Commercial Gallery Award, 2003
• Austrian Decoration for Science and Art, 2008
• Honorary Doctorate of Arts, University of Plymouth (UK), 2009
• Honorary Royal Academician (HonRA), 2011
• Cultural Leadership Award, American Federation of Arts, 2011
• Honorary Doctorate of Arts, Instituto Superior de Arte, Cuba, 2012
• Lifetime Achievement Award, July 13, Podgorica, Montenegro, 2012
• Karić brothers award for art and culture, 2012
• , 2012
• Officer rank of the Order of Arts and Letters, 2013
• Golden Medal for Merits from the Republic of Serbia, 2021
• Princess of Asturias Award in the category of Arts, 2021
• Commander rank in the Order of Arts and Letters, 2022
• Sonning Prize, 2023
• Praemium Imperiale, 2025

Publications authored or co-authored by Abramović

• Cleaning the House, Marina Abramović (Wiley, 1995)
• Artist Body: Performances 1969–1998, Abramović and collaborators (Charta, 1998)
• The Bridge / El Puente, Marina Abramović, Pablo J. Rico, Thomas Wulffen (Charta, 1998)
• Performing Body, Abramović with Dobrila Denegri (Charta, 1998)
• Public Body: Installations and Objects 1965–2001, Germano Celant and Abramović (Charta, 2001)
• Marina Abramović, featuring fifteen artists with coauthors including Abramović and Anna Daneri (Charta, 2002)
• Student Body, Marina Abramović, Miguel Fernandez-Cid, and students (Charta, 2002)
• The House with the Ocean View, Abramović et al. (Charta, 2004); this work was notably recreated in HBO's Sex and the City season six based on the original 2002 performance.
• Marina Abramović: The Biography of Biographies, Marina Abramović with Michael Laub and others (Charta, 2004)
• Balkan Epic (Skira, 2006)
• Seven Easy Pieces, Nancy Spector, Erika Fischer-Lichte, Sandra Umathum, and Abramović (Charta, 2007)
• Marina Abramović, Kristine Stiles, Klaus Biesenbach et al. (Phaidon Press, 2008)
• When Marina Abramović Dies: A Biography, James Westcott (MIT Press, 2010)
• Walk Through Walls: A Memoir, Marina Abramović (Crown Archetype, 2016)

Films created by Abramović and collaborators

• Balkan Baroque, directed by Pierre Coulibeuf (1999)
• Balkan Erotic Epic, producer and director for Destricted (Offhollywood Digital, 2006)

External links

• Official website
• Listen to the artist discuss her work MoMA Audio: Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present
• Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present exhibition at MoMA
• Marina Abramović: 512 Hours presented by the Serpentine Galleries
• Marina Abramović: Guidance for Emerging Artists Video from Louisiana Channel
• Marina Abramović & Ulay: Living Doors of the Museum Video by Louisiana Channel
• The Narrative of Marina Abramović and Ulay Video from Louisiana Channel
• Comprehensive 47-minute interview – Marina Abramović: Electricity Passing Through Video by Louisiana Channel
• Abramovic SKNY Sean Kelly Gallery profile
• Marina Abramović featured on Art:21
• Coverage of Marina Abramović on Artnet
• Marina Abramovic Institute, Hudson, New York
• Marina Abramović at Lisson Gallery
• Royal Academy of Arts exhibition: Marina Abramović