Marina Abramović has changed art. The preeminent performance artist of our time, her pioneering exploration of the genre began in the mid-1970s and continues to this day. Last year, the Serbian-born artist’s work was celebrated in a retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. In the title piece, The Artist Is Present, Abramović sat motionless in the museum’s atrium every day for three months; the simple act of confronting her public for the exhibition’s duration, without uttering a word, captivated viewers and brought many of them to tears. CHF is pleased to partner with the University of Chicago’s Smart Museum of Art in bringing one of the 21st century’s most widely-recognized culture makers to Chicago. In this CHF event, Abramović will give a lecture on performance and its future, reflecting on this provocative and enduring art form.
The Smart Museum of Art will present a new version of a seminal work by Abramović and her longterm partner and collaborator, the German artist Ulay. Communist Body/Fascist Body will have its world premiere within the Smart’s exhibition Feast: Radical Hospitality in Contemporary Art, which runs February 16–June 10, 2012.
Read a CHF blog post about Marina Abramović and Ulay written by Stephanie Smith, Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the Smart Museum of Art.
Read a CHF blog post about Marina Abramović written by anthropologist Marko Živković.
The annual Richard Gray Visual Art Series recognizes a significant gift from founding CHF board member and distinguished art dealer Richard Gray.This program is presented in partnership with the University of Chicago's Smart Museum of Art.
