‘The Artist Is Present’ is one of the most famous performance pieces in history

The exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art invited visitors to sit in silence in the company of a master performer. Many shed tears or gestured affectionately, claiming to have felt a profound connection with Abramović. (This resource contains some artistic nudity.)

‘The Artist Is Present’ was inspired by an earlier performance titled ‘Nightsea Crossing’

In the ‘80s, partners Abramović and Ulay sat across from each other in public without moving or speaking. Ulay was unable to continue after a certain point, but Abramović kept going. “The Artist Is Present” marked Abramović continuing the performance without him.

Marina Abramović continues to shock audiences in her 70s

Growing older did not limit Abramović from continuing to work or stir controversy. Reenactments of her older performances continue to generate strong responses from viewers, especially in a cultural atmosphere that she views as increasingly hostile and regulated. (This resource contains some artistic nudity.)

Marina Abramović helped popularize performance art

Working across continents for over five decades has made Abramović one of the most recognizable and prolific performance artists in history. Her shocking oeuvre has involved self-harm, public nudity, exotic animals, and fire.

Marina Abramović and Ulay experienced a touching reunion during ‘The Artist Is Present’

Decades after their professional and personal breakup, the pair publicly reunited during Abramović’s popular MoMA show commemorating their previous collaborations. Their shared moment moved Abramović to tears and caused her to lean forward and grab his hands.

Marina Abramović subjected herself to pain and humiliation in her ‘Rhythm’ series

The five performances, which included an invitation for the audience to use 72 objects as they pleased, helped put her on the map as a fearless artist, but they also caused her physical harm.

Marina Abramović and Ulay worked and lived together for 12 years

Their infamous body of work, known as “The Relation Works,” aimed to explore the dynamics between male and female partnerships, exposing power imbalances and frustration. (This resource contains some artistic nudity.)

Marina Abramović didn’t use the bathroom during her MoMA show

In preparation for sitting in one place for hours on end, Abramović placed a hole in her chair for urinating. She also prepared for the experience with a strict diet and hydration regimen.

‘Seven Easy Pieces’ helped propel Marina Abramovic’s career to her famed MoMA solo show

For seven days, Abramović reenacted seven works by her peers for seven hours each. The performance attracted widespread attention that helped lay the groundwork for her life as a celebrity artist.

Abramović's work explores intense, transient interpersonal moments

In this 2025 interview, the artist speaks candidly about her traumatic childhood, her enduring interest in exploring pain and pleasure, and how performance taught her to control her pain.

Some critics view Marina Abramović as more of a brand than an artist

As the performer became more tied to A-listers like Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, and James Franco, culture critics began to consider the commercialization of performance art and how audiences may have flocked to see the “brand” of Abramović more than her actual work.

Marina Abramović provides an interesting bridge between mainstream pop culture and unconventional art

In a 2024 interview with GQ, Abramović shares her opinion on the “Barbie” movie and Kim Kardashian, while also sharing abstract insights into the power of dreaming, solitude, and stillness.

Marina Abramović took 3,500 photos of China while performing ‘The Lovers’

During the 90-day performance that took place on the Great Wall of China, Abramović lived in isolation, nearly fell into an abyss, and wrote poetry—among other transformative experiences.

‘Rhythm’ 0 was a performance piece that exposed human nature

By inviting the audience to do as they please without repercussions, Abramović showed the public both the beauty and hideousness of human nature. Playful interactions eventually turned into assault, and the performance left her with scars she still wears decades later.

Endurance art strains and exhausts the body

Artists like Marina Abramović are known for testing the limits of human endurance. Endurance art can involve carrying heavy objects or posing uncomfortably for long durations. (This resource contains some artistic depictions of violence.)

Lady Gaga studied the Abramovic Method

The Abramović Method compiles Abramović’s own learnings and gives instructions to other artists for remaining present and grounded. Pop star Lady Gaga learned the method and cited it as a huge influence on her work.

Reactions to Abramovic’s work range from adoration to religious scorn

Abramović’s willingness to mainstream transgressive and symbolic work has inspired many, but some have also interpreted that same work as ridiculous, pretentious, or even Satanic.

The 30 most important performance artists

Through centering on the human body, performance art can surprise and shock us. This rundown of 30 of its practitioners highlights their individual art and selects an image to showcase their specific style. While some are more clever or conceptual, many are viscerally shocking, including artistic nudity and, in some cases, graphic violence.

Jay-Z and Marina Abramovic briefly feuded after collaborating

After appearing in Jay-Z’s music video for the song “Picasso Baby,” Abramović publicly accused the rapper of not donating to her institute, as he had previously promised. Jay-Z defended himself and shared his receipt, prompting Abramović to apologize about the misunderstanding soon after.

Abramović and Ulay ended their partnership on the Great Wall of China

After over a decade of romance and collaboration, the pair formally separated in a 90-day performance that involved walking over 12 miles a day in solitude.

Martha Graham on preparation and discipline

This clip from the 1957 documentary "A Dancer's World" features the dancer explaining why she has committed all of her energy to her art. "Spontaneity … is something arrived at over years and years of training," she says. "It's not a mere chance."

Andy Warhol’s 'Exploding Plastic Inevitable' shows were multimedia performance art

If you wandered into one of Andy Warhol’s "Exploding Plastic Inevitable" events in the 1960s, you might have encountered a Velvet Underground performance, go-go dancers, strobe lights, guerrilla filmmakers asking very personal questions, and mimes. Warhol was on the cutting edge of many art forms, and performance art was no exception.

Exploring Martha Graham's 'love of the body'

The innovative choreographer encouraged her dancers to tune into their bodies' natural movements. According to Kimerer L. LaMothe, author of "What a Body Knows," that kind of mindfulness made them better able to communicate a piece's symbolic meaning.

Can anything be performance art?

When you see someone slathering themselves in maple syrup or sitting silently in the corner of a gallery surrounded by yogurt containers, it’s easy to wonder whether there’s anything that can’t be considered performance art. This Artsy piece speaks to various performance artists and attempts to define some guardrails for the medium. The main takeaway? Intention and interpretation are what separate real performance art from people who are just covered in syrup.

In 'Cut Piece,' Yoko Ono invited the audience to her clothes

Much more than simply John Lennon’s partner, Yoko Ono is a prolific multimedia artist in her own right. Her 1964 performance "Cut Piece" invited audience members to come onstage and cut away pieces of her clothing. She described the piece as being about solidarity between women and the possibility for world peace, saying, “By not fighting, we show them that there's a whole world, which could exist by being peaceful.”

Performance art, explained

Performance art defies traditional boundaries, existing as a dynamic, live medium where the artist's actions—and sometimes the audience's—become the work itself. Emerging in the early 20th century with movements like Dadaism, performance art has continually evolved to provoke reflection and challenge cultural norms.

Is the pandemic performance art?

Interdisciplinary artist Kristina Wong sees parallels between the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and some of the “worst performance art” she’s encountered in her career. Wong’s sharp sense of humor and clever writing mean that she gets in some good digs at the more ridiculous side of performance art, but don’t let her funny fool you: this is an incisive piece on the role of performance, empathy, trauma, and art in all our lives.

View a gallery of vintage photos of Martha Graham's performances

Graham's choreography was as visual as it was physical, complemented by the modernist set design of Isamu Noguchi. That's on display in this collection of artful photos from classic productions of shows like "Night Journey" and "Appalachian Spring."

Performance art differs from other performances, like dance and theater

While performance art is a very flexible genre, it is defined by several core elements: time, space, the body, and the relationship between the artist and the audience. These elements may be manipulated in infinite ways to convey the artist’s message, such as how endurance performances challenge the limits of the body over long periods of time.

How the Martha Graham Dance Company experiments with technology

The dance company was the first major group to livestream rehearsals and has collaborated with Google on a version of Graham's "Lamentation" that superimposes past performances on the present-day dancer.

Listen to the last-known interview with Martha Graham

Reporter Michael Small interviewed the influential choreographer and dancer in 1989 for People magazine, two years before she died, and features the 95-year-old looking back on her life and career. If you want to skip ahead to the raw audio, jump to 26:40.

Watch Martha Graham perform 'Lamentation,' an influential piece on grief

Graham choreographed and performed the piece about grief, which premiered in 1930. The dance is performed while seated, with Graham's character attempting to free herself from an all-encompassing purple jersey.

Performance art depends on the actions of the artist

Part theater, part anarchy, part absurdism, performance art encompasses a whole range of media and genres. The short version is that it’s conceptual, often spontaneous art that is performed live. Performance art is inherently confrontational, challenging societal ideas of what constitutes “fine art,” making it an ideal vehicle for political and protest pieces. It’s closely related to other avant-garde movements like Dada and Futurism.

Watch Martha Graham perform 'Heretic'

The 1929 piece features Graham in white, expressively dancing on her own, flanked by 12 dancers in black who follow a more rigid choreography. Some critics have argued the piece was an allegory for Graham's rebellion against ballet's strict traditions.

Why this artist staged a satirical romance with Mark Zuckerberg

Internet performance artist Harriet Richardson is using AI and Meta's social media tools to make it appear as though she's in a serious romantic relationship with Mark Zuckerberg. While the images generate laughs, Richardson also says they're part of a larger satirical project aiming to highlight the larger societal impact of Meta's decision to discontinue fact-checking content across its platforms.

The landmark opera 'Einstein on the Beach' was around 5 hours long with no intermissions, and the audience was encouraged to come and go as they pleased.

Martha Graham's revolutionary approach to choreography

The dancer and choreographer created a uniquely American form of ballet that brought together stories from the country's history, abstract expressionism, modern psychological ideas, and collaborations with other major artists.

A visual biography of Martha Graham

This history of the modern dancer's life uses archival photos and videos to illustrate how Graham's childhood, especially her upbringing by a psychiatrist and her early dance performance, set the stage for her career.

Performance artist Thierry Mandon turns solitary domestic scenes into spectacless

Suspended in the air and attached to severed buildings, artist Mandon appears engrossed in his book while lying in bed or sitting at a table. Mandon satirizes our everyday habits while attracting and amusing passersby.