ART CITIES: Vienna-Marina Abramović

Marina Abramovic is without question one of the seminal artists of our time. Since the beginning of her career in Yugoslavia during the early 1970s where she attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade, Abramovic has pioneered the use of performance as a visual art form. The body has always been both her subject and medium.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Marina Abramović Archives

Exploring the physical and mental limits of her being, Marina Abramovic has withstood pain, exhaustion, and danger in the quest for emotional and spiritual transformation. Abramovic’s concern is with creating works that ritualize the simple actions of everyday life like lying, sitting, dreaming, and thinking; in effect the manifestation of a unique mental state. As a vital member of the generation of pioneering performance artists that includes Bruce Nauman, Vito Acconci, and Chris Burden, Abramovic created some of the most historic early performance pieces and is one of few still making important durational works. The energy was the theme developed by Marina Abramović for the works presented in the exhibition “The Energy Clothes”. Abramović showcases work created especially for the show, including a large-format new photo series and installation, alongside drawings and videos. “The Energy Clothes” were built to activate some energy points of the body (head, eyes, heart, solar plexus, spine) by means of circular magnets based on the shape of the cone, which, since the times of medieval witches, carries within itself the purpose of intensifying strength, perception, and the ability to change the world. Such prostheses, including a hat over a meter high, were made with silks in bright colors: purple, lilac, dark pink, pale pink, green, blue, red, yellow. The colors were also chosen by the artist as conductors of light and psychological energy. The operation represented another chapter of the work that, for years, Abramović had been carrying out through performances and public interventions around vitality and the ways to enhance it. Abramović also returns to early photographic works in the exhibition, with works from performances “Rhythm 2” (1974/1994), “Rhythm 4” (1974/1994), “Rhythm 10” (1973/2014) and “Freeing the Voice” (1975/2014) emphasising her fascination with performance as a visual art form. They mark the pinnacle of Abramović’s pursuit of physically and emotionally challenging performances, which have seen her pushing the boundaries of her own identity, creating works that rethink the accepted conventions of time. Either in a partnership with German artist Ulay, from 1975 – 1988, or solo from 1989, she explored the capacity for pain and endurance. The works also build on Abramović’s desire to share her work with her audience, exploring energy forces as a two-way relationship between performer and viewer in works that consider Asian philosophies and ritualistic ceremonies in Latin America and Australia.

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Info: Galerie Krinzinger, Seilerstätte 16, Vienna, Austria, Duration: 25/5-29/7/2023, Days & Hours: Tue-Fri 12:00-18:00, Sat 11:00-16:00, https://www.galerie-krinzinger.at