COFFEE TABLE
ANIMAL SPIRIT: A still from The Hero (2001), one of many Abramovic works documented in a comprehensive new book.
MARINA ABRAMOVIC ARCHIVES; HATJE CANTZ
MARINA ABRAMOVIC IS the deinition of an original. Arguably the inventor of contemporary performance art, she has made works during the past 50 years that have ranged from the bloody to the beautiful. She has cut and whipped herself, taken medicine with unpredictable psychiatric efects, asked people to squeeze past her naked body in a narrow corridor, and lived in a gallery for 12 days, on display and without food. As a result, she has become known as the most innovative artist in her ield.