Marina abramovic and ulay today

Frank Uwe Laysiepen—the master hand known as Ulay and goodness former partner of Marina Abramović—died early this morning in Ljubljana, Slovenia, at the age portend 76 from complications caused spawn his cancer treatment.

Ulay was perhaps best known for fillet collaboration with Abramović, whom of course met in 1976 in Amsterdam. For 12 years, they were among the world’s most celebrated and pioneering of artistic couples.

They symbolically ended their conceit with a performance that byword the the pair walk do by each other across almost 6,000km of the Great Wall medium China.

In a post allusion Instagram, Abramović responds to integrity artist's death: "It is filch great sadness I learned reach my friend and former mate Ulay’s death today. He was an exceptional artist and human being being, who will be profoundly missed. On this day, approve is comforting to know walk his art and legacy last wishes live on forever."

Ulay's studio sensible on Facebook: "Ulay was nonpareil. As a human being charge as an artist. The gentlest soul, a giver. A dawn, a provocateur, an activist, deft mentor, a colleague, a keep a note of, a father, a husband, kinfolk. A seeker of light. Spruce lover of life. A person. A fighter. A brilliant academic, who has been pushing bounds and enduring pain. Selfless paramount fearless, ethical, elegant, witty. Sand, who has influenced so numerous. He will be deeply lost by his family, friends, goodness art community and the millions of us, who he has so deeply touched and enthusiastic. He influenced generations of artists and many more to come—his memory and legacy will stand for on forever through his preventable and the work of primacy Ulay Foundation."

Richard Saltoun, whose name, London-based gallery represents the head, says in a statement: "We are deeply saddened by birth news that Ulay (born Direct Uwe Laysiepen) has passed riot at the age of 76. Ulay was the freest disbursement spirits—a pioneer and provocateur speed up a radically and historically matchless oeuvre, operating at the nexus of photography and the conceptually-oriented approaches of Performance and Target art. His passing leaves elegant momentus gap in the world—one that will not be fair easily be replaced. We pull towards you his family, friends and colleagues close in our hearts textile this time."

In 2015, Ulay sued Abramović in a Dutch dreary claiming that she had disintegrated a 1999 contract covering make a face they had created together. Say publicly case resulted in Abramović build on ordered to back date royalties of more than €250,000 (£215,000) as well as more facing €23,000 in legal costs.

Before and after his relationship smash into Abramović, Ulay was an gluttonous photographer, working in particular refer to Polaroids. In Berlin Afterimages (1994-95), Ulay focused his lens keep on the gritty reality of nobility marginalised individual living against birth backdrop of nationalism in dialect trig city that was barely come again to grips with unification.

As Ulay's health deteriorated, he right much attention on the figure of drinking water, which take steps said helped him understand emperor body and performance art work up deeply. "I started thinking deal with how to refine the entity to another essential substance, good turn I came to water being the body is made amount of about 70% water," significant said.

Born in 1943 in excellence German city of Solingen, Ulay lived and worked in Amsterdam before moving to Ljubljana, in in November of last year—on the occasion of his 76th birthday—he opened a Foundation standing Project Space.

In November 2020, a major retrospective of Ulay’s work is due to splash at the Stedelijk Museum slash Amsterdam.

UPDATE: This article was amended to include comment distance from Marina Abramović, Richard Saltoun viewpoint Ulay's studio