Christian Marclay

Swiss-American Visual Artist and Experimental Composer

Over the past 35 years, Christian Marclay has explored the fusion of fine art and audio cultures, transforming sounds and music into a visible, physical form through performance, collage, sculpture, installation, photography and video. London-based Christian Marclay was born in 1955 in San Rafael, CA and grew up in Geneva, Switzerland, where he studied at the École supérieure d’art visuel , eventually moving to the United States to complete his BFA at the Massachusetts College of Art. Marclay’s sculptures and installations have been exhibited in museums and galleries internationally and his work was also included in the 1999 and 1995 Venice Biennales and the 1991 Whitney Biennial. Marclay has been performing and recording music as an integral part of his work since 1979. Using phonograph records as his “musical instruments”, he mixes altered records on multiple turntables in a display of precise and abusive manipulations. He has performed throughout Europe, Japan, Canada and the United States and has collaborated with many composers and musicians including Elliott Sharp, John Zorn, Kronos Quartet and Sonic Youth. The relationship between sound and image is central to Marclay’s work. His work consistently plays with music and musical instruments, as well as the visualization of music. He has made sculptures from discarded CDs, melted vinyl records, sewn record covers together to create mixed media works and created installations with works depicting musical instruments from museum collections.