During the Venice Biennale, the career exhibition at Dell’Accademia at the Venice Biennale was not a bad way to celebrate his 80th birthday. Next May, this is Marina Abramović, perhaps the most famous performing artist, who will ring in her eighth decade.
The program “Marina Abramović: Transforming Energy” will be held in Accademia from 6 May to 19 October 2026. It also coincides with the 61st edition of the Venice Biennale which opened on May 9.
“Transformation Energy” previously appeared at the Museum of Modern Art in Shanghai in the fall of 2024. The show features 150 artworks, many of which are furniture/sculptural hybrids, including materials such as quartz, amethyst and tourmaline.
Abramović reportedly traveled to the Italian city from his motherland Serbia in 1960 to visit the Venice Biennale with his mother for the first time. ”[Venice] So beautiful – like anything I’ve seen,” Abramović told Artnet. “Since then, returning to Venice has become a tradition, and the city has always had a special place in my life since receiving the Golden Lion in 1997.”
In Accademia, Abramović’s “temporary objects” (the artist prefers sculptures because Purpose Not the point; vitality Yes,” she explained American Art Last year) will be installed in the museum’s permanent collection in the museum’s buildings throughout the 14th century. The Accademia has held a contemporary exhibition before most of 2022 is Anish Kapoor, but it is the first time that the work of contemporary artists has had a conversation with the Accademia Renaissance paintings of artists such as Titian, Tintoretto, Tintoretto, Giorgione and Handegna.
Perhaps the most dramatic pairing would be Abramović’s 1983 photo Pietà (with Ulay)there she rode the body of her former partner and collaborator on her legs, wearing a red off-shoulder dress decorated with the last painting of Tiartian pietà (1575–76).
