“nothing stood out more for me than… The Lizard Is Present, a brilliant satire of the arts industry that was – to sum it up heavy-handedly – ‘performative autofiction’. A torrid brew of truth and mindfuckery, this one-off ‘gala’ got off on both the audience’s revelry and discomfort. In fact, those very factors propelled it.”

- Kill Your Darlings, Best of 2019

Marina Abramolizardvic made her first appearance at Happenstance Festival (2018): an open-access festival on the banks of the Merri Creek. Those first passersby walking the trail were perhaps startled by the sight of a red rope and a gallery sign that simply read ‘The Lizard is Present’, and the nearby appearance of the artist’s ‘assistant’ - a woman in heels and.a severe fringe who kept insisting she was very grateful to be there, it was a privilege, could everyone please just line up and not rush Ms. Abramolizardvic’s process - she would appear when she liked.

Over the course of that day, it’s estimated that nearly 50 lucky members of the public were able to sit down to be be hissed at, tongue flicked at, and of course, deeply, radically stared at by the great lizard-slash-artist.

“But what makes Abromalizardvic’s work quite so game changing is that for the first time, lizard is finally object, subject and author of their experience in the art canon…let us not dismiss the rigour of the art.”

- Alistair Baldwin, The Lizard is Present: But Are We?, un magazine

Word of the artist soon spread. The next year found Abromalizardvic invited to, and at times forcefully inserting herself into (a real visionary), several central arts spaces including:Testing Grounds, Brunswick Mechanics’ Institute, the Malthouse foyer, the MSO foyer, loading dock of Trades Hall and (in a return to her organic phase) the lush grounds of Abbotsford Convent. Audiences at these venues whom the artist decided to gift with the durational power of ‘The Lizard is Present’ were reported to experience surprisingly profound emotions on sitting with Marina, often only able to say afterwards: ‘she is…so present’.

“Long-time assistant with curatorial ambition, Vidya Sai Rajan has cleverly hitched her wagon to the meteoric rise of a true artist. Rajan's previous work speaks to mild success in the lesser arts of fringe and independent theatre, work that has quickly been eclipsed by her keen eye in bringing Abromalizardvic to a broader audience.

- Alistair Baldwin, The Lizard is Present: But Are We?, un magazine

The one-off gala saw a packed crowd of anyone who was anyone in the Melbourne art scene attend.

An eventful night of reflection on legacy, performance art, philanthropic announcements, and robust discussion followed and nothing went wrong at all.

[There was a minor incident where the assistant - apparently exhausted from organising a gala on her own** /running after Abromalizardvic for months - had a breakdown on stage when it became clear the artist would not show up her for her own gala.]

However, Abromalizardvic’s sophisticated fanbase immediately understood her insistence on being absent as simply the premiere of a whole new work; a classic disruptive addition to oeuvre and expectations. Gala attendees experiencing the absence reacted quickly to the thrill of this event, applauding and taking to social media.

Marina Abromalizardvic has not been spotted since the day before the gala. It is assumed she is continuing her ‘absence work’ indefinitely. An undoubted privilege for us all to not witness.

** no gala is organised on its own. here are some or the key people who helped to create and realise this work:

Adelaide Fisher - producer

Xanthea O’ Connor - lizard, core collaborator

Alistair Baldwin - core collaborator

Stephanie Crowe - gala designer

David Harris - dramaturg

Alby Logan - stage manager

Arie Rain Glorie - outside eye

Shamini Joseph - merch designer

Participating gala artists: Raag Bhatia, Kate Pern, Louise Cox, Pedro Cooray, Brodie May, Hot Department, Margot Tanjutco, Elijah Dolla, Lucy Rees, Emma Hall, Emma Smith, Freg Monto.

A special thanks to Jewel Box Grants, an initiative of David Gonzalez for their enthusiasm and support of this project.

“Within our obsession for spectacle, it’s easy to forget that stillness and silence can also be an event. That which is effortless and intrinsic to the lizard can stir and provoke in the human.”

- Alistair Baldwin, The Lizard is Present: But Are We?, un magazine

It was no surprise then that as 2019 drew to a close the art world clamoured to honour this ‘true artist’ ( as arts critic Alistair Baldwin once termed Abromalizardvic in a feature for the actually real and reputable art magazine Un) with a gala.

(Baldwin also said some other things in the feature that seemed irrational and cruel. Mostly about the assistant.

But you know, whatever.)