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.
Fittingly blurring the lines between artist and art, this book acts as a keystone in the life of one of the most important performance artists in the world.
About the Authors:
Katya Tylevich is an arts and fiction writer. She is author of Gus Van Sant: The Art of Making Movies, Art Oracles, Success Oracles, many book and monograph contributions, essays and interviews, and co-author of My Life as a Work of Art. Notable artist collaborations include The Marina Abramovic Method Cards, the text for Michaël Borremans' The Acrobat, as well as projects with Barry McGee, Todd Hido, and Espen Deitrichson. Katya spent years as contributing editor and writer for publications such as Elephant, Mark, Frame, Domus, and Pin-Up. With her brother Alexei she co-founded Friend & Colleague, a platform for editions, fiction and special projects. She is currently working on a fiction book titled Fear Eats the Soup.
katyatylevich.com
Since the beginning of her career in Belgrade during the early 1970s, Marina Abravimoc has pioneered performance art, creating some of the form's most important early works. Exploring her physical and mental limits, she has withstood pain, exhaustion, and danger in her quest for emotional and spiritual transformation.
Abramovic was awarded the Golden Lion for Best Artist at the 1997 Venice Biennale. In 2010, Abramovic had her first major U.S. retrospective and simultaneously performed for over 700 hours in "The Artist is Present" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Abramovic founded Marina Abramovic Institute (MAI), a platform for immaterial and long durational work to create new possibilities for collaboration among thinkers of all fields.
Her most recent publication is Walk Through Walls: A Memoir, Published by Crown Archetype on October 25, 2016. Her retrospective The Cleaner opened at Moderna Museet, Stockholm in February 2017 and has toured to seven additional European venues, ending at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade, Serbia in 2019. In September 2020 the Bayerische Staats Oper presented the world premiere of 7 Deaths of Maria Callas, which will continue to tour to other venues. In 2023 she will present the solo exhibition After Life at the Royal Academy, and become the first female artist in the institution's 250 year history to occupy the entire gallery space with her work.
