Marina Abramović will become the first living woman artist to be featured in a major solo exhibition at the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice. Titled “Marina Abramović: Transforming Energy,” the show will open on May 6, 2026, aligning with the 2026 Venice Biennale, and will run through October 19, 2026. The exhibition is also framed as a celebration of the artist’s 80th birthday: November 30, 2026.
Shai Baitel, artistic director of the Modern Art Museum (MAM) Shanghai, curated the exhibition, working in close collaboration with the artist. Baitel previously helped stage an exhibition by the same name at MAM, which opened in October 2024 and featured works inspired by Abramović’s walk across the Great Wall of China. Now, Abramović will present both new and old work across the Venetian museum’s temporary and permanent exhibition spaces.
“Placing Marina Abramović’s work within the permanent collection brings past and present into direct dialogue, and invites audiences to inhabit that space with their own bodies,” Baitel said in a press statement.
“Transforming Energy” will feature Abramović’s interactive “Transitory Objects,” including stone beds and crystal-embedded structures designed to facilitate what the artist describes as “energy transmission.” Paired with these works, the exhibition includes landmark performance pieces such as Imponderabilia (1977), in which Abramović and Ulay, her longtime partner, created a narrow entryway and stood naked in it, forcing viewers to squeeze past them. It will also include Rhythm 0 (1974), in which the artist stood still for six hours in a gallery, encouraging guests to interact with her using objects, such as a rose or scissors, on the table in front of her.
Another highlighted work is Pietà (with Ulay) (1983), a a photographic work inspired by the Christian icon of the Pietà, which will be paired with Titian’s Pietà (ca. 1575–76), the final yet unfinished work by the Renaissance master. It will coincide with the painting’s 450th anniversary. The exhibition will also feature Abramović’s series using precious stones, such as quartz and amethyst. These materials echo the Venetian mosaic tradition, tapping into the city’s history of Renaissance-era material experimentation.
“I was 14 when my mother first brought me to the Venice Biennale,” Abramović said in a statement. “We traveled by train from Belgrade, and as I stepped out of the station and saw Venice for the first time, I began to cry. It was so incredibly beautiful—unlike anything I had ever seen. Since then, returning to Venice has become a tradition, and after receiving the Golden Lion in 1997, the city has always held a special place in my life.”
During the 1997 Venice Biennale, Abramović became the first woman to be awarded a Golden Lion. More recently, Abramović made history when she became the first woman to present a solo exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in September 2023, which she discusses in-depth on the Artsy Podcast.
