Christian Marclay

With Made to Be Destroyed, Christian Marclay edits together a multitude of film clips in which artworks are destroyed. The minutiae of the preliminary research and ensuing editing highlights a series of narrative and cultural patterns whereby art is the victim of violence. Whether sprayed (Batman, Tim Burton, 1989), burnt (Equilibrium, Kurt Wimmer, 2002), or smashed (Le Sang d’un poète [The Blood of a Poet], Jean Cocteau, 1932; The Naked Gun, David Zucker, 1988), artworks are destroyed in moments that express rage against the self and others, the pain of loss, rebellion against a state or political power, or simply the perfect foil for a slapstick mishap.

Christian Marclay (1955, California, USA) lives and works between London, UK, and New York, USA. His solo exhibitions include: Christian Marclay, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, USA (2021); Lids and Straws (One Minute), The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, USA (2020); Chewing Gum, Midnight Moment, Times Square, New York (2019); Christian Marclay, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York (2019); Christian Marclay: Sound Stories, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA (2019); Christian Marclay: The Clock, Metro Vancouver, Canada (2019); May You Live in Interesting Times, 58th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy (2019); Christian Marclay: Compositions, Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), Barcelona, Spain (2019); Christian Marclay: Surround Sounds, Nasher Museum of art at Duke University, Durham, USA (2019); Christian Marclay, White Cube, London (2019); Christian Marclay: Telephones, The San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, USA (2019); Christian Marclay: The Clock, Australian Center for the Moving Image, Melbourne, Australia (2019); Christian Marclay: Telephones, Herron School of Art + Design, Indiana University, Indianapolis, USA (2019); Christian Marclay: The Clock, Tate Modern, London (2019); Christian Marclay: Chaises Musicales, Musée d’art moderne et contemporain (Mamco), Geneva, Switzerland (2018); New Echoes with Christian Marclay, Palazzo Grassi, Venice (2018); Christian Marclay: The Clock, Tel Aviv Museum of Modern Art, Tel Aviv, Israel (2018); From Live to Legacies. Exploring Performance Art, Museum Tinguely, Basel, Switzerland (2018), and more. Marclay received the Contemporary Vision Award from SFMOMA in 2016. Marclay also works with performance, continuing to collaborate with musicians like Steve Beresford, Okkyung Lee, Shelley Hirsch, and Otomo Yoshihide.