Marco Anelli

In 2010, Marina Abramovi? (born 1946) staged The Artist Is Present; it would quickly become one of her most iconic projects. For three months, Abramovi? sat at a table in the central atrium of the Museum of Modern Art in New York for eight hours a day while museum visitors were invited to sit in a chair opposite her for as long as they felt was necessary. Although Abramovi? simply held their gazes in silence for the entire time that they remained seated, each participant reacted in profoundly different ways. Some wept while others held back laughter; some stayed in their seats for five minutes, others for five hours.
Throughout the piece’s duration, Italian photographer Marco Anelli (born 1968) carried out his photographic project capturing each sitter’s reaction and Abramovi?’s response in turn, noting how long they sat with one another. His photographs represent a wide spectrum of emotional responses across thousands of faces, including the more recognizable visages of celebrities like Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Björk and Sharon Stone. This collection of photographs—some of which have never been published before—is both a chronicle of Abramovi?’s seminal project and a stunning portrait of humanity. Anelli’s documentation of the unforgettable performance reveals the vulnerability inherent in every human connection, no matter how seemingly inconsequential.

Since 2011, New York–based Italian photographer Marco Anelli (born 1968)—author of Portraits in the Presence of Marina Abramovic—has been exploring the artist's character and work as expressed in the studio.

The artist’s studio occupies a unique place in the popular imagination. Its environment is both the site of the artist’s creative production and a deeply private, personal space that nourishes and bears witness to the artist’s working process, in a continuous interplay with its location, layout, interior and ambiance. Access to the studio by a trusted visitor provides a unique opportunity to experience the lives of artists working in New York, through their methods, materials and influences, contained within the intimate space of the studio, and observed with an acutely sensitive eye.

Artists included: Alex Katz, Alfredo Jaar, Anne Collier, Anthony McCall, Banks Violette, Cecily Brown, Dan Colen, Dana Schutz, John Giorno, Elizabeth Peyton, Francesco Clemente, Glenn Ligon, Jack Pierson, Joan Jonas, Joyce Pensato, Jonas Mekas, Jordan Wolfson, Julian Schnabel, Julie Mehretu, Kiki Smith, Lawrence Weiner, Mariko Mori, Marilyn Minter, Marina Abramovic, Matthew Barney, Mickalene Thomas, Nate Lowman, Pat Steir, Rashid Johnson, Rob Pruitt, Rob Wynne, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Robert Longo, Ryan Sullivan, Shirin Neshat, Terence Koh, TJ Wilcox, Tony Oursler, Ugo Rondinone, Urs Fischer, Vera Lutter, Vik Muniz and William S. Burroughs.