Exhibition Opening - Lisa Großkopf. Stable Performance

Curated by Andrea Popelka
The exhibition "Stable Performance" deals with the multiple meanings of the term "performance," which is used in various fields—from art to labor to financial capital. In an economic sense, performance refers to the efficiency and profitability of, for example, a company, a stock, or an individual worker. How does this economic meaning relate to the one commonly used in art? And what influence do both have on our private lives and our self-understanding? Authors like Marina Vishmidt, who is quoted here, have argued that performance art historically anticipated newer forms of labor by "predicting a shift towards (self-)‘performance’ as a measure of value for all work."
Against this backdrop, Lisa Großkopf examines the contemporary subject that submits to an endless optimization process in the pursuit of better performance—particularly in the realm of beauty. She connects this to the economic figure of the artist, represented here by Marina Abramović, whose name and isolated, ethereal martyrdom are significant in that they help to understand a larger phenomenon. Großkopf is interested in self-inflicted pain—whether in semi-violent facial treatments or in Abramović's physical boundary experiences—and how such practices relate to labor and its potential endlessness. How much can be extracted from a body? these practices seem to ask. Why do we even attempt to squeeze bodies in this way?—that is Großkopf's counter-question.
Exhibition duration: February 28 - May 10, 2026.