Marina Abramović (Belgrade, Serbia, November 30, 1946) is a performance artist who began her career in the early 1970s and has remained active ever since. She considers herself the "grandmother of performance art". Her work explores the relationship between the artist and the audience, the limits of the body, and the possibilities of the mind.
Born in Yugoslavia, Abramovic had a very difficult childhood, with little maternal affection, which would later influence her work. She was born during the paternal regime of dictator Josip Broz, and her parents were communist war heroes (World War II). Graduated and post-graduated in Fine Arts, her performances started in the 1970s. Playing with knives (Rhythm 10), lying in the middle of a star of fire (Rhythm 5), being under the effect of controlled drugs (Rhythm 2), making herself available to the spectators (Rhythm 0)—this is how she showed the human relationship with herself and with others.
She was Ulay's professional partner from 1976 to 1988, during which time they had a relationship. During this 12-year period they made several works together. They separated in 1988, through a performance entitled The Lovers. Starting from opposite sides of the Great Wall of China, they walked towards each other and said goodbye after meeting in the middle.
In 2010 an exhibition was held at MoMA, which occupied all six floors with a retrospective of the artist's career, covering 50 works from her 40-year career. It was there that her most remarkable presentation took place: she was available to the public during the three-month exhibition—anyone who wanted to come and spend a silent minute sitting looking at Marina (she spent more than 700 hours sitting on a chair without moving)—entitled The Artist is Present. In this exhibition Ulay, after years of not speaking to each other, sat down in front of her, and without talking, they held hands and cried.
MARINA ABRAMOVIĆ. In: WIKIPEDIA, the free encyclopedia. Florida: Wikimedia Foundation, 2021. Available at: <https://pt.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marina_Abramovi%C4%87&oldid=61138346>. Accessed on: June 30, 2021.