Ulay / Marina Abramović ART VITAL

ART VITAL – 12 Years of Ulay / Marina Abramović presents the iconic partnership between Marina Abramović (b.1946, Belgrade) and Ulay – Frank Uwe Laysiepen (1943, Solingen – 2020, Ljubljana). Between 1976 and 1988, the two artists lived and worked together, seamlessly integrating artistic practice into daily life while challenging conventional notions of authorship and identity. Their groundbreaking practice probed vulnerability, resilience, and interdependence, mirroring the intensity of their shared life and creative process.

For five years, Abramović and Ulay lived and travelled in a van, without a permanent studio or home, fully immersing themselves in their artistic journey. Their collaboration began with the performance Relation in Space (1976), exploring endurance, trust, and intimacy, and culminated in the notorious three-month walk along the Great Wall of China, documented in The Lovers: The Great Wall Walk (1988).

The exhibition brings together videos, photographs, drawings, sketches, letters, and diary entries, revealing both the public performances and the intimate processes behind them. It offers a rare insight into how Abramović and Ulay redefined the dynamics of artistic partnership and self-representation, challenging conventional notions of authorship and the boundaries between art and life.

The exhibition unfolds across all gallery spaces and floors, where works from their collaborative years are arranged as spatially linked chapters. Ljubljana holds particular significance in this story, as Ulay spent the last decade of his life in the city. Presenting their shared legacy at Cukrarna Gallery therefore carries both symbolic and emotional weight. ART VITAL unites art, memory, and lived experience, offering renewed insight into a partnership that continues to resonate as a vital and transformative chapter in contemporary art history. Visitors will encounter previously unseen documents and artworks, learn about the methods and ideas behind their practice, and experience key moments from their rich oeuvre.

Exhibition of works by acclaimed performance artists Marina Abramović and Ulay, organised by the curatorial team of Alenka Gregorič and Felicitas Thun-Hohenstein in collaboration with the Ulay Foundation, Lena Pislak, Sydney Fishman and the Marina Abramović Archive.