Marina Abramović takes over London
‘Four months ago I was in a coma… if I’d died, I’d be the only dead female artist in 250 years showing at the Royal Academy!’
With a half-century retrospective at the Royal Academy of Arts – the first main-gallery solo show for a female artist in the RA’s 255-year history – and a five-day “Takeover” at the Southbank Centre, performance artist Marina Abramović is making quite a splash in London.
She is here in person, too, and Studio International caught up with her in a bathroom backstage at the Southbank’s Queen Elizabeth Hall as she was about to open the Takeover.
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Marina Abramović: Institute Takeover
Southbank Centre, London
4 – 8 October 2023.
Marina Abramović
Royal Academy, London
23 September 2023 – 1 January 2024
Marina Abramović’s opera, 7 Deaths of Maria Callas
ENO, London Colisseum
3-11 November 2023
Interview by JULIET RIX
Filmed by WILLIAM KENNEDY
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Marina Abramović talking to Studio International at London's Southbank Centre. Photo: William Kennedy.
The Hero, 2001. Gallery view of the Marina Abramović exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 23 September 2023 – 1 January 2024. Courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives, and Luciana Brito Galeria. © Marina Abramović. Photo © Royal Academy of Arts, London / David Parry.
Nude with Skeleton, 2002/2005/2023. Live performance by Madinah Farhannah Thompson, 2 hours. Gallery view of the Marina Abramović exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 23 September 2023 – 1 January 2024. Courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives, and Galerie Krinzinger. © Marina Abramović. Photo © Royal Academy of Arts, London / David Parry.
Gallery view of the Marina Abramović exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 23 September 2023 – 1 January 2024. © Marina Abramović. Photo © Royal Academy of Arts, London / David Parry.
Four Crosses (detail), 2019. Gallery view of the Marina Abramović exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 23 September 2023 – 1 January 2024. Courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives. © Marina Abramović. Photo © Royal Academy of Arts, London / David Parry
Miles Greenberg performs as part of Marina Abramović Institute Takeover at the Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall, 4-8 October 2023. Photo: Linda Nylind courtesy of the Southbank Centre.
Miles Greenberg performs as part of Marina Abramović Institute Takeover at the Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall, 4-8 October 2023. Photo: Linda Nylind courtesy of the Southbank Centre.
Paul Setúbal performs as part of Marina Abramović Institute Takeover at the Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall, 4-8 October 2023. Photo: Linda Nylind courtesy of the Southbank Centre.
Yiannis Pappas performs as part of Marina Abramović Institute Takeover at the Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall, 4-8 October 2023. Photo: Linda Nylind courtesy of the Southbank Centre.
