Summary
- Cukrarna in Slovenia is set to open ART VITAL, the first comprehensive exhibition dedicated to Marina Abramović and Ulay’s career as an artistic duo.
- Opening on November 30, the exhibition will feature documentation of seminal performances from the couple’s 12-year run, alongside archival materials, letters and personal ephemera.
For Marina Abramović and Ulay, their relationship was the medium. In 1988, they ended their personal and professional relationship with a final unforgettable act: walking from opposite ends of the Great Wall of China to meet and part for the last time as a duo. While the end of this era saw a rocky, bittersweet end, the shared spiritual synergy shared between the two continues to redefine the possibilities of contemporary performance art.
Their life and legacy together returns to the spotlight with a new exhibition coming to Cukrarna Gallery in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Set to open on November 30, the artists’ shared birthday, ART VITAL – 12 Years of Ulay / Marina Abramović marks the first show dedicated solely to their collaborative practice, from 1976 to 1988.
Organized in thematic sections, the exhibition traces their evolution, from their first performance, Relation in Space performed at the Venice Biennale, to their swan song performance “The Great Wall Walk” (1988). Seminal works like “Rest Energy” (1980), “Imponderabilia” (1977) sit beside never-before-seen letters, personal ephemeral and archival materials, offering an intimate glimpse of their shared practice.
ART VITAL captures the physical, emotional and conceptual intensity of a partnership continually defined by endurance, risk and vulnerability. With a hard-edged interconnectedness with each other and the world around them, the years of Abramović and Ulay endure as a portrait of two artists who weren’t afraid to risk it all.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a reprint of the “Relation Work and Detour” (1980) published by the artists. Head to Cukrarna’s website to book your tickets now.
Cukrarna
Poljanski nasip 40,
1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
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