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Marina Abramović, Four Crosses: The Evil (positive), 2019. Courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives. © Marina Abramović. Detail.
This spring, the Stedelijk Museum, one of Amsterdam’s leading art institutions, opened the most extensive retrospective of Marina Ambarović ever in the Netherlands. The solo exhibition, which encompasses the celebrated artist’s entire career, will run from March 16th to July 14th, 2024. This show is distinct because Abramović has a special relationship with the city of Amsterdam, where she lived and worked in the 1970s.
Marina Abramović and Amsterdam
The legendary Serbian performance artist Marina Abramović needs no introduction. Born in 1946 in Belgrade (former Yugoslavia, now Serbia), Abramović has always linked her works to her heritage, which she refers to as not “Serbian” but “ex-Yugoslavian.” However, Amsterdam has also played an important role in Abramović’s life and work.
AdVertisment
Marina Abramović, Role Exchange, 1976, De Appel Gallery, Red Light District, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives. © Marina Abramović.
Marina Abramović and Ulay, Imponderabilia, 1977, Galleria Communale d’Arte Moderna, Bologna, Italy. Courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives. © Ulay/Marina Abramović.
Role Exchange
In 1976, the artist headed to Amsterdam’s major tourist attraction, the red light district, where she switched roles with a sex worker for a few hours. While Ambramović sat in her window display, the sex worker replaced her in De Appel Gallery. While both women utilize their bodies as work tools, the perception of both roles in society differs dramatically.
Imponderabilia
Imponderabilia belongs to one of the most notable works of the pair. First performed in Bologna, this provocative performance is reenacted again in Stedelijk with performers cooperating with Abramović. Both artists stood in a narrow doorway, facing each other nude, forcing the visitors to walk through the doorway in an uncomfortable proximity to the performers. The performance reenacted in 2024 proves how such an encounter is still incredibly uneasy and “imponderable” for contemporary visitors as in 1977.
In the mid-1970s, Abramović moved to Amsterdam, which welcomed her with a much more relaxed and progressive approach to the arts (especially in the sphere of nudity, as she remarked during the press conference preceding the opening of the show). At the same time, she met Ulay (Frank Uwe Laysiepen, 1943–2020), a German artist with whom she partnered both in life and in their collaborative work, pushing the boundaries of performance art to its limits.
Marina Abramović and the Stedelijk Museum
Installation view: Marina Abramović, video footage and props from Rhythm 0, 1974, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Photo by Peter Tijhuis, 2024. Courtesy of Stedelijk Museum.
The retrospective at Stedelijk Museum covers over 60 works, including archival footage of performances, photos, videos, and sculptures encompassing five decades of Abramović’s prolific career. The museum has dedicated an enormous space to celebrate the artist’s groundbreaking and controversial oeuvre and preserve her legacy for future generations. The problems she faced and tackled are ever-present:
When I was appointed Director, there was no doubt that the Stedelijk should present a survey of Marina Abramović’s oeuvre. She is a pivotal figure in the development of performance art, which found an early home at the Stedelijk, and has numerous connections with Amsterdam. After staging the major retrospective of Ulay’s work in 2020, we proudly opened the museum’s doors to Marina Abramović, who has a long and meaningful relationship with the Stedelijk. Re-enactments of historical performances keep her oeuvre alive – not just for us, but for future generations.
Museum’s press release.
Installation view: Marina Abramović, Video footage of several performances, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Photo by Peter Tijhuis, 2024. Courtesy of Stedelijk Museum.
Installation view: Marina Abramović, Video footage of The Artist Is Present, 2010, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Photo by Peter Tijhuis, 2024. Courtesy of Stedelijk Museum.
Re-enacted Performances
This historic retrospective is not only limited to an assemblage of video footage, photographic documentation, and props used in Abramović’s legendary works but also features live performances re-enacted by artists trained at the Marina Abramović Institute. The works performed at Stedelijk are Art Must Be Beautiful, Artist Must Be Beautiful (1975), Imponderabilia (with Ulay) (1977), Luminosity (1997), and The House with the Ocean View (2002).
AdVertisment
Live re-enactment: Marina Abramović and Marina Abramović Institute, Luminosity, 1997/2024, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Photo by Fabian Landewee. Courtesy of Stedelijk Museum.
Live re-enactment: Marina Abramović, Ulay, and Marina Abramović Institute, Imponderabilia, 1977/2024, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Photo by Peter Tijhuis. Courtesy of Stedelijk Museum.
Luminosity
In Luminosity (1997/2024), the performer sits on a bike seat placed on a wall a few meters above the floor. This performance challenges the artist to concentrate and be present in the moment as the performance becomes gradually more physically challenging.
Luminosity is performed twice
a day during the exhibition (duration: 30 minutes).
Imponderabilia
Imponderabilia (1977/2024) A pair of performers re-enact in the retrospective’s first room, forcing visitors at the exhibit’s doorway to brush through them to see the rest of the show.
Imponderabilia is performed four times
a day during the exhibition (duration: 60 minutes).
Additionally, visitors are invited to participate in two performances: Work Relation (with Ulay) (1978) and Counting the Rice from the Abramović Method.
Live re-enactment: Marina Abramović and Marina Abramović Institute, Counting the Rice, 2015, Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Artforum.
While in Amsterdam, visit this must-see show at the Stedelijk Museum, which runs until July 14, 2024.
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Nicole worked as an Editor in the DailyArt Magazine and has MA degree in art history. She is passionate about 17th-century Dutch art and colonial history. Her life-goal is to work with art and experience its beauty on a daily basis.
Marva Becker
Univ. of NO - Fine Arts and History; Fine Artist, Professional Graphic Designer, Art Historian, Historian, Musician; worked at the New Orleans Museum of Art and MS Museum of Art; Archeology buff and learning enthusiast!
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