Celebrating the 80th birthday of the artist at the 61st Venice Biennale
Marina Abramovic. Clara Melchiorre photo
For the first time in its history, the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice will dedicate a major exhibition to a living contemporary artist – and a woman.
Opening on May 6, 2026, during the 61st Venice Biennale, Marina Abramović: Transforming Energy celebrates the 80th birthday of the Serbian-born performance icon, marking a historic moment both for the museum and for the Italian cultural landscape.
Curated by Shai Baitel, Artistic Director of the Modern Art Museum (MAM) in Shanghai, in close collaboration with Abramović herself, the exhibition promises to be one of the most significant cultural events in Venice in 2026. It represents not only a tribute to the pioneering contemporary artist who redefined the boundaries of performance art but also a turning point in how institutions approach the art of our time.
Transforming Energy by Marina Abramovic at Modern Art Museum (MAM) Shanghai
Credit: Yu Jieyu
A dialogue between Renaissance masterpieces and contemporary performance
The exhibition aims to integrate Marina Abramović’s performative practice into the rich historical and artistic context of Venice. Rather than being confined to temporary spaces, her works will be dispersed throughout the museum, interacting directly with the permanent collection of Renaissance masterpieces. This innovative approach invites a dialogue between past and present, between the spiritual essence of the old masters and the raw physicality of Abramović’s art.
Natural materials such as quartz, amethyst, and crystals will play a key role in the exhibition design, echoing the Venetian tradition of mosaic art and the Renaissance philosophy of transformation. Abramović uses these materials to explore the idea of energy as a vital force—an invisible current that connects the viewer, the artwork, and the surrounding space.
The body as a site of energy and transformation
Among the most emblematic works featured in the Venice exhibition are the Transitory Objects, sculptural installations made of stone and crystals that invite physical interaction. Visitors will be encouraged to lie down, sit, or stand within them, turning contemplation into direct experience. For Abramović, these objects are not static sculptures but “tools for energy activation,” designed to foster an exchange between human and material energies.
The Biennale exhibition will also retrace the key moments of her five-decade-long career through archival footage, photographs, and video documentation of her most iconic performances. Works such as Rhythm 0 (1974), Imponderabilia (1977), Light/Dark (1977), and Balkan Baroque (which earned Abramović the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale in 1997) will be revisited as part of a larger reflection on endurance, vulnerability, and the limits of the body.
Another significant piece, Carrying the Skeleton (2008), addresses themes of memory, mortality, and the weight of personal and collective history—issues that continue to define the artist’s vision of art as a form of ritual and catharsis.
New works created for Venice
Alongside historical works, Transforming Energy will feature new installations conceived specifically for the Gallerie dell’Accademia. These pieces will respond to the architecture and atmosphere of the Venetian museum, extending Abramović’s lifelong exploration of the body as both subject and medium.
As always, the contemporary artist invites her audience to participate not merely as spectators but as active presences within the work. The visitor becomes part of the performance, immersed in a process of inner awareness and energetic transformation.
In this sense, the exhibition in Venice will not only celebrate Abramović’s legacy but also question how contemporary art can engage with the sacred dimension of the museum. Her presence within the Gallerie dell’Accademia—a temple of Renaissance art—suggests that performance can be as timeless and spiritually charged as painting or sculpture.
The power of the body: Marina Abramović and the Renaissance
One of the most striking moments in the exhibition will be the visual dialogue between Pietà (with Ulay) (1983) and Titian’s Pietà, the unfinished masterpiece that embodies both human suffering and transcendence. In Abramović’s photograph, the artist cradles the lifeless body of Ulay, her artistic and emotional partner, echoing the composition of the Renaissance painting.
This juxtaposition creates an intense conversation between two forms of devotion—the Christian and the artistic—where the body becomes a vessel of empathy, sacrifice, and spiritual elevation. It exemplifies the essence of Abramović’s vision: to use the physical form as a bridge between the material and the immaterial, the individual and the universal.
Pietà (with Ulay), 1983
Venice, the Biennale, and the transformation of contemporary art
Hosting Marina Abramović: Transforming Energy during the Venice Biennale underscores the city’s enduring role as a crossroads of innovation and artistic experimentation. Venice, with its centuries-old relationship to beauty, spirituality, and decay, provides the ideal backdrop for an exhibition that deals with transformation, time, and energy.
For Abramović, Venice holds a special significance. It was here that she received the Golden Lion nearly three decades ago, a milestone that cemented her place among the most influential contemporary artists of our time. Returning to the city now, as an artist whose work has shaped generations, carries the weight of both recognition and renewal.
The Gallerie dell’Accademia’s decision to dedicate its grand spaces to a living artist represents a profound institutional shift. It acknowledges that performance—once considered ephemeral—is now a central part of art history. The exhibition becomes not only a celebration of artist’s career but also a statement about the evolving identity of the museum itself: a space where tradition and experimentation can coexist.
By bridging Renaissance art and contemporary performance, Abramović reaffirms her belief that energy—emotional, physical, and spiritual—remains the true essence of art. Her exhibition at the Gallerie dell’Accademia during the Biennale invites every visitor to experience that energy firsthand, within the timeless beauty of Venice.
