Ulay to Show Rare Works with Abramović at Richard Saltoun London in 2019

Ulay (Frank Uwe Laysiepen) will have his first exhibition with Richard Saltoun Gallery in London in 2019, featuring works from the 1970s, including a little-known film made with Marina Abramović titled "Relation in Movement" (1977). The film shows the duo driving a van in circles outside the Musée d'Art Moderne and Palais de Tokyo in Paris, with Abramović shouting lap counts through a megaphone. Also on view will be polaroids of Ulay dressed as a drag queen, exploring gender identity. The exhibition marks a new chapter in the ongoing public saga between the former partners, who met in 1976 and performed together as "The Other" for 12 years, known for extreme performances like "Death Self" (1977) and "Imponderabilia" at the Galleria Comunale d'Arte Moderna in Bologna. After their 1988 breakup on the Great Wall of China, Abramović rose to international stardom, winning the Golden Lion at the 1997 Venice Biennale, while Ulay struggled. Their relationship has oscillated between reconciliation—such as their emotional reunion at Abramović's MoMA performance "The Artist is Present"—and legal disputes, including a 2015 copyright lawsuit that resulted in Abramović paying Ulay $250,000. Ulay recently proposed they co-write a memoir, which Abramović reportedly accepted.