Marina Abramovic
Since the beginning of her career in Belgrade during the early 1970s, Marina Abramovic has pioneered performance as a visual art form, creating some of the most important early works. The body has always been both her subject and medium. Exploring her physical and mental limits in works that ritualise the simple actions of everyday life, she has withstood pain, exhaustion and danger in her quest for emotional and spiritual transformation. From 1975–88, Abramovic and the German artist Ulay performed together, dealing with relations of duality. Abramovic returned to solo performances in 1989. She has presented her work at major institutions in the US and Europe, including the Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven,1985; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1990; Neue National Galerie, Berlin, 1993, and the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford,1995. She has also participated in many large-scale international exhibitions including the Venice Biennale (1976 and 1997) and Documenta VI, VII and IX, Kassel (1977, 1982 and 1992). Recent performances include "House with ocean view" at Sean Kelly Gallery, New York in 2002, and the Performance "7 easy pieces" at Guggenheim Museum, New York in 2005.
In 2008 she has been decorated with the Austrian Commander Cross for her contribute to the Art History.
Upcoming projects are among others a retrospective at MoMA - NY, a theatre piece directed by Robert Wilson that will be premiered in 2011, and the opening of the M.A.I ( Marina Abramovic Institute in 2012.
