Marina Abramović, Original self-portrait drawing, hand signed and inscribed to her bodyguard at her famous Serpentine performance, 2014

Marina Abramovic

Original self-portrait drawing (hand signed and inscribed), 2014

Original ink drawing held inside hardback monograph, done at her Serpentine Gallery exhibition, and hand signed and warmly inscribed

Ink drawing is hand signed, dated and inscribed by Marina Abramovic with a dateline of "Last day of 512" -- her Serpentine show 512 Hours

9.25 x 7.25 x 1 inch

This unique self-portrait drawing done in ink, was created by Marina Abramovic on the very last day of her groundbreaking exhibition at London's Serpentine Gallery in 2014. It was done by Marina placing her face on top of a book, and literally tracing her face on it - all of which is documented as part of this works unique provenance. Indeed, Marina makes the very act of creating this drawing part of the performance! The resulting drawing is warmly inscribed to her bodyguard (with a dateline "Last Day of 512"). The work is accompanied by a letter of provenance from the original owner. It also includes a photograph of Marina placing her face down and literally tracing her own face, for the purpose of drawing this self portrait -- making the work a unique, documented part of the artist's performance history. A must have for true fans and collectors of Marina Abramovic -- and an exceptional conversation piece.

The inscriptions reads:
For Safron
with LOVE
Marina Abramovic
LAST DAY OF 512
25.8.2014
LONDON
The email that accompanies it reads:

Dear Nadine,
Please find attached pic of the signing...... Ill send a few emails
Just for a bit of further history/info about it, I was her close protection/Bodyguard during her 512 hours exhibition.
Enjoy your investment!
Best Regards
(see photos)

Again, the "Last Day of 512" was a momentous day, as it was the final day of Marina Abramovic's "512 Hours" at the Serpentine. Below is a more detailed description of the event:

Marina Abramović: 512 Hours
The Serpentine premiered a new durational performance by Marina Abramović.

‘I’d arrived, I confess, supposing that I would leave quickly, hooting with derision…It was a profoundly relaxing, reductive experience. Trance-like. In the middle of London on a weekday afternoon.’ –Chris Blackhurst, Independent

‘It’s hard to think of another artist who can draw monumental crowds with such an airy concept…she exudes a mesmerizing mix of hypnotic energy, reassuring warmth and sharp wit.’ –CNN
In summer 2014, in a unique work created for the Serpentine, the internationally acclaimed artist Marina Abramović performed in the Gallery for the duration of her exhibition: 10am to 6pm, 6 days a week, attracting a total of 129,916 visitors. Creating the simplest of environments in the Gallery spaces, Abramović’s only materials were herself, the audience and a selection of props. On arrival, visitors both literally and metaphorically left their baggage behind in order to enter the exhibition: bags, jackets, electronic equipment, watches and cameras were not permitted to accompany them. The public became the performing body, participating in the delivery of an unprecedented moment in the history of performance art.
Daily Diary

As part of 512 Hours, Abramović recorded a daily diary.

“Friday 13 June. At the end of the day something happened so incredible that it opened my heart and made me cry, cry, cry. I was coming to the middle space and I was seeing people like some sort of strange magnetic force, they are coming to the centre of the room and they are filling this podium and there was no space anymore. They are turning and making a circle around and around and around and at one point all of the people came in all spaces to the centre and they closed their eyes with a smile in their face and just stood there. It was so overwhelming. It was so magical.”

Below is information about the monograph - When Marina Abramovic Dies - which houses this exceptional drawing:

Publisher ‏ : ‎ The MIT Press; First Edition (1st printing) (January 29, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 344 pages (100 photographs)
When Marina Abramović Dies examines the extraordinary life and death-defying work of one of the most pioneering artists of her generation--and one who is still at the forefront of contemporary art today. This intimate, critical biography chronicles Abramović's formative and until now undocumented years in Yugoslavia, and tells the story of her partnership with the German artist Ulay--one of the twentieth century's great examples of the fusion of artistic and private life.

In one of many long-durational performances in the renewed solo career that followed, Abramović famously lived in a New York gallery for twelve days without eating or speaking, nourished only by prolonged eye contact with audience members. It was here, in 2002, that author James Westcott first encountered her, beginning an exceptionally close relation between biographer and subject. When Marina Abramović Dies draws on Westcott's personal observations of Abramović, his unprecedented access to her archive, and hundreds of hours of interviews he conducted with the artist and the people closest to her. The result is a unique and vivid portrait of the charismatic self-proclaimed "grandmother of performance art."