ULAY is the pseudonym of Frank Uwe Laysiepen. He was born in 1943 in Solingen, Germany. Ulay was formally trained as a photographer, and between 1968 and 1971, he worked extensively as a consultant for Polaroid. In the early period of his artistic activity (1968-1976), he undertook a thematic search for understandings of the notions of identity and the body on both the personal and communal levels, mainly through series of Polaroid photographs, aphorisms, and intimate performances. At that time, ULAY's photographic approach was becoming increasingly performative and resulted in performative photography (Fototot, 1976). Later, in the late stage of his early work, performative tendencies within the medium of photography were transformed completely into the medium of performance and actions (There Is a Criminal Touch to Art, 1976). From 1976 to 1988, he collaborated with Marina Abramović on numerous performances; their work focused on questioning perceived masculine and feminine traits and pushing the physical limits of the body (Relation Works). After the break with Marina, ULAY focused on photography, addressing the position of the marginalized individual in contemporary society and re-examining the problem of nationalism and its symbols (Berlin Afterimages, 1994-1995). Nevertheless, although he was working primarily in photography, he remained connected to the question of the ‘performative,’ which resulted in his constant ‘provocation’ of audiences through the realization of numerous performances, workshops, and lecture-performances. In later years, ULAY was mostly engaged in projects and artistic initiatives that raised awareness, enhanced understanding and appreciation of, and respect for, water (Earth Water Catalogue, 2012). He was also a professor of Performance and New Media Art at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung, Karlsruhe in Germany.
ULAY's work, as well as his collaborative work with Marina Abramović, is featured in many collections of major art institutions around the world such as Centre Pompidou, Paris; De Appel Foundation, Amsterdam; Louisiana Museum, Humlebæk; Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Museum of Modern Art, New York; SFMOMA, San Francisco; Stedejlik Museum, Amsterdam; Tate Modern, London; and ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe. In 2020, he was the subject of a posthumous retrospective, Ulay Was Here, at the Stedelijk Museum.
The ULAY Foundation, established in 2014 by the artist himself, is a beacon for preserving and promoting his historically unique oeuvre and legacy.
selected works
gallery exhibitions & performances
