Marina Abramović (b. 1946, Yugoslavia) lives and works in New York City. Since the beginning of her career in Yugoslavia during the early 1970s, where she attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade, Abramović has pioneered the use of performance as a visual art form. The body has always been both her subject and medium. Exploring her physical and mental limits in works that ritualize the simple actions of everyday life, she has withstood pain, exhaustion and danger in her quest for emotional and spiritual transformation. She has presented her work at major institutions in the U.S.A. and Europe, including the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (1985); Centre Pompidou, Paris (1990); Neue National Galerie, Berlin (1993); and the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford (1995). She has also participated in large-scale international exhibitions including the Venice Biennale (1976 and 1997) and documenta 6, 7 and 9, Kassel (1977, 1982 and 1992). Recent performances include The House With The Ocean View at Sean Kelly Gallery, New York City (2002), and 7 Easy Pieces at Guggenheim Museum, New York City (2005). In 2010, Abramović had her first major U.S.A. retrospective and simultaneously performed for over 700 hours in The Artist is Present at Museum of Modern Art, New York City. Abramović is planning to open the Marina Abramović Institute for the Preservation of Performance Art (MAI) in Hudson, New York City, in 2014.