Marina Abramovi膰 (b. 1946) is famed for pioneering performance art, pushing her body to the limits to engage with pressing social and political issues. This autumn, the Royal Academy of Arts, London, will present the first major UK survey of the internationally acclaimed Serbian artist and Honorary Royal Academician. The exhibition, arranged in close collaboration with Abramovi膰, will survey her extraordinary practice over five decades. Key installations, objects and videos are linked by a series of shared themes, including 鈥淧ublic Participation鈥, 鈥淭he Communist Body鈥 and 鈥淏ody Limits鈥. Four pieces 鈥 Imponderabilia (1977), Nude with Skeleton (2002), Luminosity (1997) and The House with the Ocean View (2002) 鈥 will be performed live across the gallery by a new generation of practitioners taught by Abramovi膰.
Originally trained as a painter, Abramovi膰 turned to performance in the early 1970s. During this time, she established the hallmark of her practice: ritualising everyday actions through repetition and endurance. Her body became the medium, and she consistently tested its physical and mental tolerance. Rhythm 0 (1974) is a famous example. Set in Studio Morra, Naples, 72 objects 鈥 from an apple and a rosemary branch to a needle and a gun 鈥 were offered to the audience to be used 鈥渙n [Abramovi膰] as desired鈥. The public held no responsibility for their actions over the six-hour duration. She relinquished control completely, enabling strangers to become active participants in the artwork. Some engaged curiously whilst others The height of Abramovi膰鈥檚 vulnerability was when a man pressed a loaded gun to her head. In a Guardian interview over 30 years later, she states:
Performance art can often confront us with our own mortality, whether as artist or audience. One section of the exhibition, titled 鈥淐oming and Going鈥, displays Abramovi膰’s engagement with this theme. Nude with Skeleton (2002) is inspired by a practice where Tibetan monks sleep alongside the deceased to understand the process of death. The artist reinterprets the experience in the gallery by lying beneath a replica skeleton, animating its bones with her own breathing. Abramovi膰 connects art, death and life through her body. Research into different cultures has deepened her interest into how feats of physical endurance give way to a mental leap of faith 鈥 enabling one to transcend the limitations of the body. She explains: 鈥淚 call it liquid knowledge. When the body is exhausted you reach a point where the body doesn鈥檛 exist anymore. Your connection with a universal knowledge is so acute, there is a state of luminosity.鈥
Abramovi膰鈥檚 range is astounding, as she continually explores new ways to engage with the public. In another part of the show, two pieces – Rhythm 0 (1975) and The Artist is Present (2010) 鈥 are brought together from opposite ends of a 45-year span. They show how her interest in direct audience interaction has developed over time. In the latter, strangers take a seat facing the artist at a wooden table. They gaze into each other鈥檚 eyes in complete silence, each devoting time to an intimate moment of connection. The RA is set to re-stage the iconic piece through archival footage of the original performance at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Around 850,000 gallery-goers participated in this simple act of mutual looking and . They had not spoken for more than 20 years and the shock of his surprise appearance gave way to a moving conversation where they. This silent intimacy with eyes familiar and unknown, stands in stark contrast to the violence of Rhythm 0. From radical physical interaction to quiet stillness, Abramovic breaches the usual barriers between artist and audiences 鈥 to drastically different outcomes.
From 1975鈥1988, Abramovi膰 explored the relationship between men and women through a series of collaborative pieces with her then partner Ulay. At the RA, 鈥淏ody Limits鈥 brings attendees back to these early years with a series of videos and photographs. The couple take centre stage in Imponderabilia (1977), standing naked on either side of a doorway leading into a gallery space. They are, as Abramovi膰 names, 鈥渓iving doors鈥 for visitors to side-step through. It is an investigation into the split-second decisions governing our interactions with other people. The next part of the exhibition, called 鈥淎bsence of the Body鈥, focuses on the couple鈥檚 break-up. . Ultimately, The Lovers, The Great Wall Walk (1988) explores separation on a grand scale. The artists walked for 90 days over across the Great Wall of China from opposite ends 鈥 meeting briefly before splitting once more.
Abramovi膰 remains dedicated to surpassing the limits of art. From being received as by early newspapers, the power of her work is globally recognised and celebrated today. Her recent work includes Rising (2019), a virtual reality (VR) avatar performance engaging with the climate emergency and an opera written 2020 titled 7 Deaths of Maria Callas and The Hero 25fps (2022). The last one shows her holding a white flag whilst sat atop a stationary white horse. It was her first NFT project, and is a reference to one of her earlier pieces titled The Hero (2001).聽 Abramovi膰 peels away expected social behaviour 鈥 revealing realities that are sometimes horrifying, sometimes heart-warming, but always captivating.
Royal Academy of Arts, London: Marina Abramovi膰 | 23 September 2023 – 1 January 2024
Words: Diana Bestwish Tetteh
Image Credits:
- Marina Abramovi膰, The Artist is Present, 2010. Performance; 3 months. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Courtesy of the Marina Abramovi膰 Archives. 漏 Marina Abramovi膰. Photo: Marco Anelli
- Marina Abramovi膰, The Hero, 2001. Single Channel Video (black and white, sound); 14 minutes, 19 seconds. Courtesy of the Marina Abramovi膰 Archives. 漏 Marina Abramovi膰
- Marina Abramovi膰, The Current, 2017. Video; 1 hour 35 mins. Courtesy of the Marina Abramovi膰 Archives. 漏 Marina Abramovi膰
- Marina Abramovi膰, Rhythm 0, 1974. Performance; 6 hours. Studio Morra, Naples. Courtesy of the Marina Abramovi膰 Archives. 漏 Marina Abramovi膰. Photo: Donatelli Sbarra
