Marina Abramovic says she had three abortions because having children makes female artists less successful

The performance artist suggested that female artists are held back by having children

Evening Standard Arts In Association With logo

Held back: Abramović said that female artists with children are less successful than their male counterparts

WILL OLIVERWILL OLIVER/AFP/Getty Images

28 July 2016

Performance artist Marina Abramovic has told a German newspaper that she had three abortions because children prevent female artists from being as successful as men.

“I had three abortions because I was certain that it would be a disaster for my work,” she told Tagesspiegel. “One only has limited energy in the body, and I would have had to divide it.”

The artist, who has been creating performance art for 40 years, has made a number of works that have taken a toll on her body, including a 90 day walk across the Great Wall of China, and a show where her and collaborator Ulay ran into one another repeatedly for an hour. She caused a sensation with her show The Artist Is Present in 2010 at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, where attendees were invited to sit in a chair opposite Abramovic whilst she looked into their eyes.

“In my opinion that’s the reason why women aren’t as successful as men in the art world. There’s plenty of talented women. Why do men take over the important positons?” she continued in the interview. “It’s simple. Love, family, children - a woman doesn’t want to sacrifice all of that.”

The comments echo those made by Tracey Emin in 2014. The Turner Prize-nominated artist said that it would be too much of a compromise to be an artist at the same time as being a mother, adding that “there are good artists that have children. They are called men.”