UCSB Arts & Lectures presents pioneering performance artist Marina Abramović in Conversation with Pico Iyer, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 6 at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara.

“Renowned conceptual artist Marina Abramović has pushed the boundaries of contemporary art, not just within performance art but across the entire spectrum of the art world,” UCSB Arts & Lectures said.

“Since the 1970s, her cutting-edge work has explored the body, endurance, the relationship between the performer and audience and the possibilities of the mind,” Arts & Lectures said.

Abramović’s iconic performances include “The Artist Is Present,” the MOMA retrospective, which sparked an HBO documentary, as well as collaborations with such pop icons as Jay-Z and Lady Gaga.

Marina Abramović is a Serbian conceptual and performance artist. Her work explores body art, endurance art, the relationship between the performer and audience, the limits of the body and the possibilities of the mind.

Active for some four decades, Abramović refers to herself as the “grandmother of performance art.”

She pioneered a new notion of artistic identity by bringing in the participation of observers, focusing on “confronting pain, blood and physical limits of the body.”

In 2007, she founded the Marina Abramović Institute (MAI), a nonprofit foundation for performance art. Abramović has maintained interest in the powers of the mind, investigating Eastern mysticism and Zen Buddhism, among other forms of spirituality.

Initially a painter, Abramović subsequently shifted her focus to conceptual work, sound pieces and performance art. In 1973-74, she performed several works named “Rhythm,” intended to stretch the limits of her body and mind.

In “Rhythm 2,” for example, she took drugs that gave her convulsions or seizures. In 1975, she performed “The Lips of Thomas,” in which she cut, beat and froze herself. Many of her early works were documented in photographs; she would later use video to capture their energy.

Tickets are $48.50-$68.50 for general public; $20 for UCSB students (current student ID required). Limited tickets available.

For tickets or more information, call UCSB Arts & Lectures, 805-893-3535 or buy online at www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu; or www.Lobero.org.