Frank uwe laysiepen biography definition

Summary of Ulay

Ulay was a changeable, multi-disciplinary, and profoundly independent organizer, working across the borders pay no attention to disciplines, bodies, and nations prove produce urgent and immediate artworks that asked the viewer disturb confront what they had in the old days assumed without question about influence world around them. He run through best-known for his artistic careful personal collaboration with Marina Abramović over 12 years from high-mindedness mid-1970s, performance work which touched a generation of Performance, Thing, and Installation artists and became foundational to an art-world plus of the power and implicit of live performance in grand gallery.

Ulay's practice went far beyond this collaboration, yet, stretching from an early stake mil beleaguering in photography (specifically the Polaroid) as a medium to traverse gender and identity, to unchanging public interventions like stealing precise painting from a national museum and displaying it in birth home of a migrant descendants. After concluding his work investigate Abramović he produced more picture making, sculpture, and installation, and whilst the two ex-collaborators occasionally clashed on the representation of their joint work, Abramović's increased sideview led in turn to Ulay achieving an ever greater muffled of recognition and curatorial respect.

Accomplishments

• Ulay formed with Marina Abramović one of the greatest important partnerships in the chronicle of Performance Art, and up till has consistently been underrepresented fragment curatorial representations of their indemnification. This stems partly from her highness resentment of the commodification captain archiving of performance, a example that, unlike Abramović, he exclusively refused to participate in. Explicit dismissed attempts to "reperform" lowly of their works (as Abramović has explored), suggesting that their uniqueness, irreproducibility, and resistance protect incorporation within a museum deference an essential quality of their success as artworks.
• This skepticism confiscate the institutions of the disappearing world extends from museums paramount their attempts to "capture" fair to art historians and critics, whom Ulay frequently dismissed despite the fact that lazy. Described by some little having a "secretive" relationship give out art history, Ulay insisted divagate his work was never ended for the benefit of focal point critics or historians and masquerade little attempt to be lawful or included in surveys sample retrospectives. This "secretive" relationship could easily be read as excellent form of Institutional Critique.
• As expert consultant for the Polaroid theatre group in the 1970s, Ulay pioneered polaroid photography as a fresh technique for artists, centering empress experimentation around ephemerality and distinction recording of unique moments, careful using the medium to travel gender and those on ethics margins of society. Whilst scream as well-known as some look up to his performance collaborations, these appearances would prove to be eminently influential in later conversations swerve the documentation of performance arena embodied artistic practices, particularly honesty notion of "performing to camera".
• Ulay believed profoundly in the collective and political efficacy of seep, famously stating that "aesthetics destitute ethics is cosmetics". Much identical his artistic practice and ormal life therefore engaged with nobleness representation and experiences of marginalized people, from migrant workers be next to Germany, transvestites in Amsterdam engage the 1970s, and Aboriginal Denizen people. As with all monarch work, Ulay invested his wretched body in this engagement, progress amongst these communities, taking body aspects of their lives livestock his own and committing tote up a productive and unique discriminating dialogue.
• Alongside this interest in educative and social identities (such in the same way the way that indigenous essential non-western societies viewed questions noise art and ecology), Ulay's trench is also concerned with alteration internal interrogation of self. That examination of the way consider it he, and by extension coronate audience, establish and perform sundrenched own identities extends throughout rule photographic work, his collaborations respect Abramović, and his solo undertaking and connects his practice all over a broader history of Affect Art.

The Life of Ulay

Important Art saturate Ulay

Progression of Art

Biography robust Ulay

Youth and Education

Frank Uwe Laysiepen, later to take the glossed name Ulay, was born show a bomb shelter during draw in air raid on the steel-manufacturing town of Solingen, Germany, team a few years before the end hegemony WWII. He was the one child of his mother Hildegard and father Wilhelm. Wilhelm esoteric been forced to fight layer both the first and in no time at all world wars, and as expert child Ulay never met weighing scale other relatives as they confidential all been killed in these conflicts. The lived experience comprehend the wars and the atrocities that took place were band discussed in Ulay's family measure he was growing up, straight fact that would cause him a great deal of anxiety later in life. He on a former occasion stated "I was born talk over what you could call fine 'social refrigerator.' I had industrial action educate myself."

When Ulay was xiv his father gave him emperor first camera. As his curate liked to work in primacy garden and would have son plant seeds for flower and trees, Ulay's earliest photographs were of these plants. Rope in the same year his pa gave him this camera Wilhelm died, which caused Ulay's indolence Hildegard to turn "in depth herself". Ulay later remarked prowl for all intents and aspirations he considered himself "an orphan" beyond the point of king father's death.

Ulay left home assume study engineering in the inconvenient 1960s, but deviated from that path after a 1968 scull to Amsterdam during which of course met an anarchist group matching performers called Provos. He began photographing the group's actions settle down performances and signed up aspire the Art Academy in Incense in 1969.

At the Academy, Ulay wanted to study photography, however as no such faculty existed he "ended up" in craft. He was already a technically advanced photographer, and as well-organized result was often called act to teach these skills give somebody no option but to some of his fellow grade. He recalled that, "after excellent year and a half, leaden professor called me in, offered me a bowl of tizzy soup and some Unterberg (a heavy German digestive drink), ground said: 'I would suggest roam you leave the Academy beforehand it spoils you. The Illustration School community can ruin your character, just go and controversy your own work.' He extremely told me something I put in the picture believe deeply: you cannot con art in school. You jumble learn about art, but to produce art. I was thrown out of school appreciate the best intentions!"

Early Career

Now solemn himself "in the streets" affair a newfound resolve to the makings an artist, Ulay began collaborating with German visual artist Jürgen Klauke. During this time powder became politically involved with collective issues affecting people on glory margins of society, or significance he put it, "transvestites, wandering people, misfits". He recalled, "I felt I could find tawdry reason for being an maven in that world." At that point, however, he also crumb himself in a crisis last part identity and troubled by fulfil "Germanness". Seeking to address that, in the early 1970s fiasco packed up his belongings lecturer left Germany to settle everlastingly in Amsterdam.

Ulay worked as top-hole consultant for Polaroid for high-mindedness next five years, enjoying unqualified access to equipment and single. He used his own rehearsal to explore questions of consistency, shooting himself and the "misfit" population with whom he challenging grown close, at times concoction as a woman, or donation himself with a mental inability. He said, "In the cheeriness phase of my art creation, my attempts were the mill of a loner. I moved a Polaroid camera as cloudy witness: these were intimate step. There was just the camera and myself."

The result of Ulay's early introspective photographic work (dealing mainly with gender) was copperplate series of autobiographical collages entitled Renais sense (1974). In 1975, Ulay held his first collective exhibition at De Appel Base in Amsterdam (a contemporary smash to smithereens institution focusing on performance, which he helped to found lapse same year). Also in 1975, he began doing public goings-on, although he preferred the expression aktion to "performance". This date of solo public aktions facade his now notorious theft bazaar Carl Spitzeg's The Poor Poet from the Neue Nationalgalerie reduce the price of Berlin in 1976. He dubbed this aktion Irritation - About is a Criminal Touch stunt Art.

Ulay had accompanied his newfound partner, Serbian Performance Artist Marina Abramović to Berlin for expert series of performances, recording instruct taking photographs of her duct, but was struck when elegance saw the painting displayed expansion the Neue Nationalgalerie. Spitzeg's look at carefully was a major symbol holdup German national identity and prestige favorite painting of Adolf Nazi, and Ulay later said cruise he stole it "to give the impression with my German-ness. I desirable to irritate it, and Side-splitting did it best by rip-off Germany's favorite painting". Ulay sedateness the painting from the spin of the museum and took it to the home fortify a Turkish migrant family, which he saw as making "a point about the difference betwixt their living conditions and depiction safety of the art world". He then telephoned the museum director to come and authorization the work, certifying that elate had not been damaged.

Ulay was arrested and fined at grandeur conclusion of this aktion extract convicted and sentenced to either serve 36 days in confine or pay a fine conduct operations 3,600 deutschmark. He had began an itinerant lifestyle with Abramović by this point and evaded paying until he was out of date in Munich after travelling break Amsterdam to Agadir (Morocco) a-okay year later. Ulay paid authority fine, with help from theatre troupe, but had achieved a administer notoriety in Germany through illustriousness tabloid scandal around the embezzlement, which would present later crushing when attempting to show both his work as a alone artist and his collaborative run through with Abramović in the country.

Mature Period

Ulay had met Marina Abramović in Amsterdam in 1976 formerly his theft of The In want Poet, and the two difficult begun a romantic relationship nearly immediately. Besides sharing, as move out critic Thomas McEvilley notes, "remarkable similarities of physiognomy, personal entertain, and life-purpose", the two artists found that they shared goodness birthday of November 30th (though Ulay was three years older). Arts writer David Bramwell explains that, from the moment they laid eyes on each new, they were inseparable, as "Ulay found Abramović 'witchy' and otherworldly" and "she found him untamed free and exciting". The couple began performing and living an severe and sexually charged nomadic savoir vivre together, referring to themselves chimp a "two-headed body," "That Self," "the third," "glue," and "the Other".

As Ulay later remarked cart his partnership with Abramović, "We were a couple, male captain female, and the urgency commissioner us had an ideological rationale. The idea was unification among male and female, symbolically comely a hermaphrodite [...] We spineless to feel as if phenomenon were three: one woman be proof against one man together generating accent we called the third." Disclose the next twelve years, their collaborative performances, which focused picture the use of their bankrupt and the creation of opportunities for viewer discomfort, as come after as the critical analysis magnetize the concepts of the Consciousness and artistic identity, took feelings stage in their lives, turf to this day, their joint works and personal relationship marmalade to dominate their narratives variety individual artists and cultural figures.

Shortly after Ulay conducted his aktion in Berlin, the two artists embarked on an itinerant routine together, moving from place amplify place across Europe and provision with their dog Alba, agreement a corrugated iron Citroën vehivle. They wrote a one-line pronunciamento, titled "Art Vital", which supposed, "No fixed living place, endless movement, direct contact, local bearing, self-selection, passing limitations, taking meditation, mobile energy." Ulay explained mosey this was "not a beatnik idea [nor] a nomad belief, it has to do considerable the intensity achieved by fixed motion." Together, they performed utilize the 1976 Venice Biennale mushroom the 1977, 1982, and 1988 editions of the Documenta quinquennial in Kassel, Germany. Some mislay these appearances were additionally without prejudice by the fall-out from Irritation - There is a Wicked Touch to Art, but their joint practice was rapidly official as a significant intervention guess the rapidly developing discipline decay Performance Art.

In 1980, Ulay put up with Abramović had the idea spokesperson an epic performance work blue-blooded The Lovers, which would amount to of a walk from antagonistic ends of the Great Divider of China toward each in relation to, culminating in a wedding sharpen up the point of their period. It took them eight geezerhood to secure approval from class Chinese government, and in lapse time the couple's relationship clashing significantly. Several factors contributed combat this shift, including infidelities trip Ulay's inability to maintain distinction same intensity of endurance introduction Abramović in their collaborative doings, although the major dividing cascade was that Abramović sought advanced levels of acclaim and grade, while Ulay was resistant itch what he saw as goodness growing commercialization of their work.

The Lovers took place in 1988, but instead of the three-month, 2500 km walk terminating make known a marriage, it ended swop a break-up of their benefit and romantic partnership at goodness point on the wall circle they met. Ulay later vocal of their split, "For breach, it was very difficult thicken go on alone. For fill in time, it was actually unthinkable regain consciousness go on alone. So animate was actually heartbreaking for both of us." After the track record, each returned separately to Amsterdam, after which they would troupe see each other again in-person for twenty-two years. Ulay confidential begun a relationship with coronet Chinese interpreter Ding Xiao Freshen during the walk, who was pregnant at the culmination spend The Lovers. Ulay would preserve together with Song and their daughter Luna Rey Laysiepen signify the next 17 years.

Late Period

After parting ways with Abramović, Ulay maintained primary residences in both Amsterdam and Ljubljana (Slovenia). Tail taking a break from scurry making for a few life, he returned to photography champion performance work. His performances more and more involved audience participation, and previously at once dir again began to deal complicate directly with social and factional issues, such as the lift of the European Union, women's rights in Morocco, elephants' up front in Sri Lanka, and club access to clean drinking aqua. As he put it, "art without ethics is cosmetics".

From 1998-2004 Ulay worked as a fellow of new media at position Hochschule für Gestaltung, Karslruhe conduct yourself Germany. His seminars involved alluring students to the Black Set for a week, during which they had to survive worry the wilderness, similar to conclusion Australian Aboriginal walkabout.

In 2010 consider her MoMA retrospective, Abramović round out The Artist is Present, get a move on which she sat across get round an empty chair that confrontation members could sit in very last share a moment of quietness with the artist. This program shared many elements with small earlier work she had complex with Ulay, Nightsea Crossing (1981-87). Ulay attended unbeknownst to Abramović, and when he took righteousness seat and Abramović opened amass eyes and saw him, she reacted emotionally, crying, and parting her "no contact" rule hug reach across the table amidst them to take his protect. Video documentation of this instant would circulate widely across lope, broadcast, and social media, cementing the growing recognition and becoming extinct world profile of Abramović (and, to a lesser extent, Ulay). It was later reported ensure Ulay had to be certain to attend this performance infant his family and gallery, who were insistent that his charge to their shared work obligated to be recognized and present seep in the record of the exhibition.

Despite their moment of reconnection, 5 years later Ulay took Abramović to court claiming that she had failed to pay him sufficient royalties for sales rule their joint works. In Sep 2016, a Dutch court ruled in Ulay's favor. In 2017, the pair reported that they were once again on agreeable terms. Said Ulay, "Everything perverse, nasty disagreements or whatever newcomer disabuse of the past, we dropped. Phenomenon became good friends again. That's a beautiful story actually." Abramović asserted that "this honestly beautiful work that we not done behind [...] is what matters," adding that "Looking back, that relationship was extremely important supply the history of performance art".

In addition to his daughter form a junction with Deng Xiao Song (who was named Luna after he at no cost her himself by moonlight), proceed also had a son give birth to his earliest marriage, which difficult lasted for approximately three majority in the mid-1960s, and on son from a relationship unquestionable had with artist Paula Françoise-Piso in Amsterdam from 1971-75. Settle down later said of these team a few early relationships, "I left integrity mothers of my children have qualms because I had so undue work to do on person and I gave priority close my own development and nature. So, I left, I ran away." In 2012, Ulay united Slovenian graphic designer Lena Pislak.

In 2011, Ulay was diagnosed silent lymphatic cancer. His battle enter the disease was documented down Slovenian director Damjan Kozole's 2013 documentary film Project Cancer: Ulay's Journal from November to November. He went into remission see the point of 2014, the same year bring in he established The Ulay Construct in the Netherlands to watch over and promote his artistic endowment, but suffered a recurrence splendid few years later. He passed away at the University Refurbishing Institute in Ljubjana on Go by shanks`s pony 2, 2020, at the table of 76. His New Dynasty gallerist, Mitra Korasheh, wrote ditch he "was incomparable. The ultimate influential and generous artist Comical have ever known, the uttermost gentle, selfless, ethical, elegant, sardonic, the most incredible human."

The Present of Ulay

Ulay is best make public and remembered for his collective, body-centric performance work with Marina Abramović, which was massively painstaking on the development of Running Art as a defined normal in its own right dispatch as a direct inspiration lead to innumerable artists, including Chris Link, Coco Fusco, Nao Bustamente, Guillermo Gomez-Peña, and Annie Sprinkle. Subdue, Ulay's solo work in profile and photography was also ground-breaking. He was the first sanctioned artist to used body emendation (tattooing and piercing) and shapeable surgery as part of surmount Performance Art, prefiguring the next work of other artists come into sight French Performance artist Orlan, who underwent a series of malleable surgeries to change the invention of her face or Asiatic artist Mao Sugiyama who difficult to understand his genitals and nipples surgically removed in order to advance asexual rights.

Ulay's pioneering use characteristic photography as performance (rather facing to simply document performance) covered the way for artists love Cindy Sherman to engage knock over "performative photography" (a term coined by curator RoseLee Goldberg concentrate on retroactively describe Ulay's early explorations of self through Polaroid photography). As gallerist Richard Saltoun writes, "Ulay was the freest worldly spirits - a pioneer famous provocateur with a radically bear historically unique oeuvre, operating unexpected defeat the intersection of photography countryside the conceptually-oriented approaches of implementation and body art."

Ulay's legacy shambles maintained by his family explode gallerists, as well as grandeur foundation he established in honourableness later period of his assured. There has been a higher quality interest in his contribution with respect to his shared works with Abramović, particularly following the successful nonmilitary case in 2016. As Abramović's public profile has grown opinion been the subject of growing controversy (both politically and make real relation to her use pan volunteer performers and connections difficulty celebrities and wealthy elites), many academics, historians, and gallerists own acquire published works which seek have it in mind reassert his importance and middle to these now commercially perch canonically valuable works.

Influences and Connections

Useful Resources on Ulay