December 4 – 7, 2013
The National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts), a non-profit organization that recognizes and supports the nation’s most talented young artists in the visual, literary, design, and performing arts, and Visionaire, the creative producers behind the limited-edition art and fashion collectible, today announced that YoungArts will present the world premiere of the new short film installation 130919 • A Portrait of Marina Abramović by emerging artist Matthew Placek.
An internationally celebrated pioneer of performance art who was the subject of a blockbuster retrospective in 2010 at The Museum of Modern Art, Marina Abramović is best known for works that explore the physical limitations of the body, as well as the body’s potential to be a vehicle for spiritual transformation. Created by Placek, A Portrait of Marina Abramović marks the international premiere of his first major work. The 3-D film installation documents Marina Abramovic standing in the middle of a derelict building in Hudson, New York, that will be converted into the Marina Abramović Institute. The camera pans to capture the volume of the space, while evoking a sense of the life of the artist, her keen sense of transition and the imminence of renewal. Accompanying the image is an ancient Greek song, translated and recorded by the world-renowned Serbian singer Svetlana Spajić, recalling the cycle of birth, maturity, decay and rebirth.
The screenings will take place in a building going through its own rebirth. The "Jewel Box" has been stripped down to prepare for its transformation into part of YoungArts' multi-disciplinary arts campus, designed by Frank Gehry. These screenings offer a one-time-only opportunity to experience the interior of the iconic Jewel Box as an open and exposed space, showcasing the building's hammered stained glass "tapestries."
“As YoungArts continues to grow and expand its programming, we are delighted to partner with Visionaire to offer this groundbreaking work to the public,” stated Paul T. Lehr, President and CEO of YoungArts. “Marina Abramović is one of the defining artists of our time, whose body of work continues to astonish and influence people everywhere, not least the emerging artists we strive to identify and support.”
The creation and presentation of A Portrait of Marina Abramović marks the launch of VisionaireFILM, Visionaire’s film division, a multi-media forum for creative expression for internationally renowned artists, filmmakers, and personalities. The presentation of the film is made possible in part through the generous support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
“We are proud to launch Visionaire’s first film in partnership with YoungArts during Art Basel in Miami Beach,” noted Cecilia Dean, Co-Founder and Editor of Visionaire. “It brings us great pleasure to unite a renowned artist with an extraordinary organization, both of which are currently building homes for artists and audiences of the future and to support and nurture Matthew Placek, a young talent destined for many more great projects.”
MARINA ABRAMOVIĆ has pioneered performance as a visual art form since the 1970s, using her body as both her subject and medium. Exploring her physical and mental limits, she has withstood pain, exhaustion and danger in her quest for emotional and spiritual transformation. From 1975 to 1988, Abramović collaborated on a series of seminal works with German artist Ulay. She has presented her work at major institutions in the U.S. and Europe, including the Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, 1985; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1990; Neue National Galerie, Berlin, 1993, the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, 1995; Documenta VI, VII and IX, Kassel, 1977, 1982 and 1992; and the Venice Biennale, 1976 and 1997, for the latter of which she received the Golden Lion for Best Artist. Most recently, she performed "The House With The Ocean View" at Sean Kelly Gallery, New York in 2002, and "7 Easy Pieces" at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York in 2005. In 2010, The Museum of Modern Art in New York gave Abramović her first major U.S. retrospective, in which she performed for more than 700 hours in The Artist is Present.” The Life and Death of Marina Abramović directed by Robert Wilson premiered and toured Europe in 2011 and was performed in 2013 at the Luminato Festival in Toronto and at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City. Her collaboration with the Paris Opera for the restaging of Bolero premiered in May 2013. In 2014, Abramović will open the Marina Abramović Institute for the Preservation of Performance Art (MAI) in Hudson, New York. MAI is a foundry for performance and education, hosting workshops lectures, residencies and research projects. MAI aims to foster collaborations among art, science, technology and spirituality within the context of long durational work and the Abramović Method.
MATTHEW PLACEK moved to New York City from Ohio in 1997 to attend the School of Visual Arts. Since then he has cultivated his interests in the performing and fine arts through collaborating with many notable contemporary artists, such as Marina Abramović, Julian Schnabel, David Salle, Vanessa Beecroft, Richard Prince, Brice Marden, Cindy Sherman, James Ivory and Yoko Ono. His individual and collaborative work has been exhibited in the U.S. and abroad at MoMA, Deitch Projects, Mary Boone Gallery, The Kitchen and Galleria Lia Rumma. He is a frequent contributor to such publications as The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vogue, and Visionaire. A Portrait of Marina Abramović is the first of an ongoing body of “moving portraits” by Matthew Placek. In these films, Placek considers his close personal relationship with his subjects in an effort to tell their story without dialogue. With a sensitive and exploratory examination, Placek attempts to show the past present and future of his sitters. The use of one-take 3D cinematography opens a tangible window into the lives of his subjects without interruption. The portraits are created in an edition of 6.
Go behind the scenes of 130919 • A Portrait of Marina Abramović
World Premiere of 130919 • A Portrait of Marina Abramović
by Matthew Placek
The National Youngarts Foundation and Visionaire
ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH
THE JEWEL BOX AT THE NATIONAL YOUNGARTS FOUNDATION
2100 BISCAYNE BOULEVARD, MIAMI