“Exploring the Intersection of Sound and Image: Christian Marclay’s Artistic Journey”

2023-05-31 01:56:49

Christian Marclay studied at the Ecole Supérieure d’Art Visuel in Geneva from 1975 to 1977, at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston from 1977 to 1980, and as a visiting scholar at the Cooper Union School in New York in 1978. Marclay’s work has been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world, most recently in the major solo exhibition “Compositions” at the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (2019). From August 25 to October 14, 2019, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art staged the American debut of Marclay’s project “Sound Stories,” a five-piece installation that uses Snapchat sounds and video recordings. Other important exhibitions have been held at the Kunsthaus in Zurich (1997), the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago (2001), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2002), the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York (2010) , in Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau (2015), Sapporo Museum of Art, Sapporo (2017). Marclay received the Golden Lion for Best Artist at the 54th Venice Biennale for his virtuoso 24-hour video piece, The Clock, which premiered at the White Cube in London in 2010. Since then, The Clock has been exhibited in numerous institutions around the world including the Paula Cooper Gallery (2011), the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2012), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (2013), the Guggenheim Bilbao (2014), the Center Pompidou-Metz (2014), SALT Beyoğlu, Istanbul (2014), Museum Berardo, Lisbon (2015), Contemporary Arts Center, presented by Prospect New Orleans (2016) and Tate Modern, London (2018).

Fire2020

Artist statement

My work explores the physical and cultural intersection between sound and image and reflects an abiding interest in the sound perception of still images. How an image expresses sound, and how sound can then be expressed visually.

I use fragments of popular culture as material with which to create new meaning and form, through a process of mixing and recontextualization that is rooted in a sampling aesthetic from sound works that I have developed throughout the 1980s using vinyl records. This approach to found material later evolved to include the use of video, photography and printmaking.

The work that triggered my Prix Pictet nomination was exhibited at the Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco (January 21 – March 25, 2021) and included photographs, collages and video animation. The works selected for the Prix Pictet exhibition, however, relate more specifically to fire.

The photographic prints come from small collages. Cut and torn fragments of comic books, film stills and images found on the Internet are arranged into expressive composites of screaming faces. Sometimes the fragments are taped or glued directly to the screen. Other faces are made by aggressively modifying the paper by crumpling, tearing and burning it. These small ephemeral collages are then preserved with the help of the camera.

Fire, 2020, is a video animation made from paper cut-outs of comic book illustrations representing fire. Over 1,500 photographs presented in quick succession suggest a flip book, creating the illusion of flickering fire. This animated collage transforms depictions of all kinds of wars, disasters, explosions and arson into abstract yellows, oranges and reds.

These works reflect the fear and anxiety associated with the raging pandemic, the erosion of democracy, systemic racism and the damage done to our environment.

Christian Marclay

Christian Marclay
Born in San Rafael, 1955
Nationality: American/Swiss
Lives and works in the UK

Prix Pictet Fire
May 26 – October 15, 2023
Photographic Museum New York
281 Park Ave S, New York, NY 10010

Prix Pictet

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#Photographic #York #Prix #Pictet #Fire #Christian #Marclay

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