The Body as Art: Performance and Body Art in the 60s and 70s. Body art and performance emerged strongly in the 1960s and 1970s as a radical break with traditional forms of creation. Instead of canvas, marble or paper, the body became medium, message and support. It was no longer just a matter of representing an idea, but of embodying it. In a context marked by social movements, feminist struggles, political protests and cultural transformations, many artists found in their own bodies a direct tool to question norms, explore limits and confront the spectator. Art ceased to be an object and became an experience. Artists and their key works. Marina Abramović Born in Serbia in 1946, she is one of the most influential figures in contemporary performance. In The Artist Is Present (2010), performed at MoMA in New York, Abramović sat for hours in front of visitors who took turns watching her in silence. Her body, immobile but present, explored resilience, vulnerability, and human connection. With this work she questioned the boundaries between artist and viewer, as well as the power of the gaze.
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