Marina Abramovic: A Visual Biography

by Marina Abramović, Katya Tylevich

The definitive guide to the life and work of Marina Abramovic, the world's most famous performance artist.

Combining brand-new interviews, never-before-seen images and fascinating ephemera, this book is a testament to the extraordinary life and work of one of our most courageous and groundbreaking artists, and is published to coincide with the opening of Abramovic's Royal Academy exhibition - the first major show by a female artist in the Academy's 255-year history.

Agreeing to answer any question that was posed, Abramovic embarked on 17 months of candid interviews conducted by her friend and confidante, Katya Tylevich. The result is a monolithic retrospective that takes us from the humble beginnings of a shy child sitting at the back of the class, to fearless pioneer, conquering and subverting the art world with boundary-pushing performances, and concluding with her most profound personal experience to date.

Over 600 images from Abramovic's personal archives set these captivating memories alight, creating a fascinating, visual landscape and demonstrating the inextricably intertwined nature of her life and work.

A breathtakingly intimate journey, we are led across deserts, oceans and cities to explore extreme highs and lows, all the while marvelling at how Abramovic approaches every success and setback with her signature humour and wit. Never shying away from the truth, no stone is left unturned, and Abramovic's fearlessness imbues every page.

Genres: Art, Biography

496 pages, Hardcover

Published November 28, 2023

About the author

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 ritualize 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 "The House With The Ocean View" at Sean Kelly Gallery, New York in 2002, and the Performance "7 Easy Pieces" at Guggenheim Museum, New York in 2005. In 2010, Abramovic had her first major U.S. retrospective and simultaneously performed for over 700 hours in “The Artist is Present” at Museum of Modern Art, New York. Using herself and the public as medium, Abramovic performed for three months at the Serpentine Gallery in London, 2014; the piece was titled after the duration of the work, “512 Hours”.
She was awarded the Golden Lion for Best Artist at the 1997 Venice Biennale for the video installation and performance “Balkan Baroque.” In 2008 she was decorated with the Austrian Commander Cross for her contribution to Art History. In 2013, the French Minister of Culture accepted her as an Officer to the Order of Arts and Letters. In addition to these and other awards, Abramovic also holds multiple honorary doctorates from institutions around the world.
Abramovic founded the Marina Abramovic Institute (MAI), a platform for immaterial and long durational work to create new possibilities for collaboration among thinkers of all fields. The institute inhabited its most complete form to date in 2016 in collaboration with NEON in “As One”, Benaki Museum, Athens.

Reviews

[Shirli Levitsky Gal · Rating 5 out of 5]

איזה כיף שהצלחתי להשיג אותו. ספר אומנות יפייפה שגם נותן עזר ויזואלי לביוגרפיה שלה שקראתי וגם די עומד בפני עצמו עם קטעים נבחרים מהביוגרפיה שלה גם כן

[kavya · Rating 2 out of 5]

"I hated all the restrictions of my young life. Now I think, maybe it was better than having total freedom and not knowing what to do with it. You need discipline if you want to do what I'm doing now: Without discipline, believe me, you will never make artwork that makes somebody cry.

Now I stage the things I am most ashamed of, and I can do it without embarrassment, with humour. Shame is the most difficult feeling, but it is also universal. That's why I think anybody can project my biography onto their own."

"Art. I am not a studio artist. My work comes from life. It is something I have to feel in my stomach."

"I put everything into my work. I make my pain and humiliation public, and that's how I get rid of it. It's how I connect with people. There's no way another human being doesn't feel the same things I do. We share these things."

"Everything in my family growing up was a secret. My mother collected all the press about my work, but cut me out of every photo in which I was naked."

[Daniel Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

what a fantastic companion to Marina Abramovic. I recently read her memoir, but was left wanting to see pictures of her work. what makes this biography so compelling is it's comparative lack of text, it's confidence in it's imagery.

[Bárbara Duhau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este libro es espectacular

[Karolina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, luxury designed biography with all main events from artist's life, really a visual gem.

[ajla🤍 · Rating 5 out of 5]

so good! I loved everything about it, shes so interesting and I feel like she inspires a lot of people including me

[lorena · Rating 5 out of 5]

So moving - what a life. Maybe a little hippie or self-centered at times but what artist isn’t!