Christian Marclay Action

Media Release Aarau, July 2015

30 August – 15 November 2015 Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau

Raised in Geneva and living in London and New York, Christian Marclay (b. 1955) explores the relationship between art, music, and popular culture in his multifaceted work. Titled Action, the present exhibition at the Aargauer Kunsthaus focuses, for the first time, on his artistic interest on the subject of onomatopoeia.

While music is now a common medium within today’s art, Marclay discovered it as material for the visual arts as early as the 1970s. As a pioneer of turntablism, performer, and artist he has since received international recognition for his sound-based collages, videos, sculptures, paintings, and photographs.

Featuring roughly 120 works, Action traces an arc in Christian Marclay’s artistic practice since the late 1980s by placing his fascination with onomatopoeia at center stage. In addition to the immersive, space- activating video animation Surround Sounds (2015), the exhibition also includes early and lesser-known works as well as a large number of new paintings and works on paper, which Marclay has created over the course of the last three years.

Comic books are key to Marclay’s interest in the visualization of sound. He focuses on onomatopoetic expressions that in comics convey the acoustic dimension of the narrative and, in doing so, not only represent sound, but also energy, movement, or drama – in short, "Action." This preoccupation continues in his most recent works which explore the onomatopoetic potential of written words and, by means of a complex procedure, create colorful, vocable collages that are based on a superimposition of printmaking and painting. The intention here is to pair words culled from comics with correlative painterly gestures. In one painting, for example, a centrally placed SPLAT is printed on top of red paint splatter that together form a coherent whole. In essence, the onomatopoeias printed on

canvas or paper were the score for the artist’s painterly actions. They are humorously evocative of the sounds made by spraying, pouring, or smudging paint. Marclay’s working method, which incorporates chance, gravity, and materiality, as well as his own physicality, are reminiscent of Action Painting, a style made popular during the 1950s by Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Franz Klein.

Also an important source of inspiration for Marclay has been Japanese culture, particularly Japanese Scrolls. He combines this traditional Eastern medium with elements of Western comics. For his Hanging Scrolls (2011), which are presented here for the first time in Europe, Hächler Fuhrimann Architects have created a contemporary interpretation of a Japanese teahouse in collaboration with the artist. Within the exhibition this pavilion-like structure serves as both platform and stage for traditional tea ceremonies, musical performances, and a series of talks and lectures in which various themes of Marclay’s work are discussed. Vocalists will interpret Manga Scroll (2010) and Zoom Zoom (2007 - 2015), graphic scores which reflect his interest in both the visual and performing arts.

Marclay’s practice is shaped by the principle of "sampling," transforming readymade materials as he did with vinyl records throughout the 1980s and more recently with found film footage. In contrast to those works, the ones presented in Action are entirely silent but preoccupied with evoking sound within the viewer, making us aware how intensely we hear with our eyes. Situated at the dynamic intersection of movement and stasis, sound and silence, word and image, the Aarau exhibition points to an important aspect of Marclay’s artistic investigation, which is here examined for the first time.

Christian Marclay (b. 1955) grew up in Geneva where he attended the École Supérieure d'Art Visuel from 1975 until 1977. He subsequently continued his studies at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston and at Cooper Union in New York (1977 – 1980). Since the late 1970s he has been active as a musician and composer. He lives in London and New York. In 1995 he represented Switzerland at the Venice Biennale. Selected Solo Exhibitions: Liquids, White Cube Bermondsey, London (2015); New Paintings and Works on Paper, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York (2014); Things Iʼve Heard, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco (2013); Seven Windows, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2012); Scrolls, Gallery Koyonagi, Tokyo (2011); The Clock, White Cube Masonʼs Yard, London; Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; The Israel Museum, Jerusalem; Museum of Modern Art, New York (all 2010); Christian Marclay: Festival, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2010); Christian Marclay,

Performa Biennial, MoMA PS1, New York City (2009); Honk if you love silence, Musée dʼArt Moderne et Contemporain, Geneva (2008); Christian Marclay, UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, Seattle Art Museum; Kunstmuseum Thun (2003-2004); Christian Marclay: The Bell and the Glass, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia (2003); Christian Marclay: Video Quartet, Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel (2003); Sampling/Christian Marclay, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco (2002) ; Graffiti Composition, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin (2002); Arranged and Conducted, Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich (1997); Amplification, Venice Biennale, Chiesa San Staë, Venice (1995); Footsteps, Shedhalle, Zürich (1989); 850 Records, The Clocktower, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York City (1987); Christian Marclay, Apartment, Geneva (1981). Selected Group Exhibitions: Kaboom! Comics in Art, Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst, Bremen (2013); Rhythm in it: On Rhythm in Contemporary Art, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau (2013); Yoko Ono, Water Event 2013, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt (2013); The Living Years: Art after 1989, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2012); New to the Print Collection: Matisse to Bourgeois, Museum of Modern Art, New York City (2012); Sound Art. Sound as a Medium of Art, ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe (2012); participated in 54th Venice Biennale (2011); Under Destruction, The Swiss Institute, New York (2011); New Presentation of the Contemporary Art Collection, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (2011); Echoes, Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris (2011); Haunted: Contemporary Photography/Video/Performance, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2010); Sonic Youth, Centro de Arte de Mayo, Madrid (2010); Surface Tension: Contemporary Photographs from the Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2009); Platform 2009, Samuso Space for Contemporary Art, Seoul (2009); Panoramica, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2008); Sonic Youth etc.: Sensational Fix, LIFE, St. Nazaire; MUSEION, Bolzano; Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (all 2008); Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll Since 1967, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, Miami (both 2007); Music Is a Better Noise, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York (2007); Lovely Shanghai Music, Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai (2006); Vídeo música, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid (2005)

Curator Madeleine Schuppli, Director, Aargauer Kunsthaus Assistant Curator Katrin Weilenmann, Assistant Curator, Aargauer Kunsthaus

Publication Christian Marclay. Action The trilingual volume (in German, French, and English) published in conjunction with the exhibition includes essays by Prof. Allen S. Weiss, Dr. Gilda Williams, and Madeleine Schuppli as well as a transcript of a conversation between Christian Marclay and his artist friends Olivier Mosset and Steven Parrino from 1991. Zurich-based graphic design studio NORM has been responsible for the publication’s graphic design. Edited by

Madeleine Schuppli, Aargauer Kunsthaus. Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern. ISBN 978- 3-7165-1796-3. CHF 50.–, for Members of the Aargau Art Association CHF 45.– Preview for the Media Thursday, 27 Aug. 2015, 10.30 am Introduction and tour of the exhibition with Madeleine Schuppli. Followed by a reception in the foyer. Christian Marclay will be present.

Exhibition Opening Saturday, 29 Aug. 6 pm 6.15 pm Welcome address and introduction by Madeleine Schuppli, Director, Aargauer Kunsthaus. 7 pm Performance Manga Scrolls by Christian Marclay Starting 7.30 pm Barbecue on the roof terrasse in the tent 5 – 6 pm Preview for members of the Aargau Art Association 6 – 8 pm Children’s Opening Meet at the studio downstairs at 6 pm (children aged 5 to 13)

Performative Part of the Exhibition

Teahouse Conversations Thursday, 6.30 – 8 pm Conversations with various guests, preceded by a tea performance with tea master Soyu Yumi Mukai 17 Sept. (in German) Manuel Krebs, graphic designer, NORM, Zurich, with Philipp Schaufelberger, musician, Zurich 1 Oct. (in English) Prof. Allen S. Weiss, Curator, Professor at NYU, with Katrin Weilenmann, Assistant Curator, Aargauer Kunsthaus 15 Oct. (in German) Dr. Katharina Epprecht, Director of Museum zu Allerheiligen, Schaffhausen, with Andreas Fuhrimann and Gabrielle Hächler, Architects, Zurich 29 Oct. (in English) Marcella Lista, Curator Contemporary Art, Musée du Louvre, with Madeleine Schuppli, Director Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau 12. Nov. (in Deutsch) Jana Jakoubek, Artistic Director of the Fumetto Festival in Lucerne, with a guest (to be announced)

Admission + CHF 15.– Details from August at www.aargauerkunsthaus.ch

Vocal Performances Interpretations of the work Manga Scroll (2010) Sunday, 6 Sep., 12 – 12.30 pm With Dorothea Schürch, singer, Zurich Thursday, 8 Oct., 7.30 – 8 pm With Isa Wiss, singer, Lucerne, Thursday, 5 Nov., 7.30 – 8 pm With Eugénie Rebetez, performer, Zurich

Preceded by a guided tour. Admission + CHF 8.–. Details from August at www.aargauerkunsthaus.ch

Artist’s Talk and Performances Saturday, 24 Oct., 3 – 6 pm 3 pm Performance of the work Manga Scroll featuring Shelley Hirsch, prominent U.S. vocalist in the field of improvised music 3.30 pm Artist’s Talk with Christian Marclay and Madeleine Schuppli, Director. Followed by a coffee break 5.30 pm Performance of the work Zoom Zoom featuring Shelley Hirsch and Christian Marclay.

Reception. Admission + CHF 20.–

Tea Ceremony Sunday, 8 Nov., 4.30 – 6 pm Tea ceremony with tea master Soyu Yumi Mukai in the tea house within the exhibition. Number of seats limited. Registration: [email protected] Admission + CHF 15.–

Accompanying programme to the exhibition

Guided Tours Thursday 6.30 pm 8 Oct. with Astrid Näff, 5 Nov. with Brigitte Haas Sunday 11 am 30 Aug. with Madeleine Schuppli, 6 Sep. with Brigitte Haas, 13 Sep. with Astrid Näff, 27 Sep. with Brigitte Haas, 11 Oct. and 18 Oct. with Silja Burch, 25 Oct. and 8 Nov. with Brigitte Haas, 15 Nov. with Astrid Näff Sunday 1 pm 15 Nov. with Astrid Näff

Art Picnic Thursday, 10 Sep., 12 – 1 pm Tour of the exhibition and creative involvement; afterwards sandwich With Silja Burch. Admission + CHF 10.-

Talk & Tea Thursday, 17 Sep., 5.30 – 7.30 pm Dialogue-based tour in English; afterwards tea and pastry With Kristen Erdmann. Admission + CHF 10.-

Art Education

Open Studio Sunday, 30 Aug. and 27 Sep., 11 am – 4 pm Related to the exhibition Christian Marclay. Action

Introduction for Instructors Wednesday, 2 Sep., 2.30 – 4.30 pm

Family Sunday Sunday, 8 Nov., 11 am /1 pm /3 pm

Interactive guided tour and workshop related to the exhibition Christian Marclay. Action For additional events for schools, families, children, and adolescents, as well as barrier-free events please refer to the separate programme and to our website www.aargauerkunsthaus.ch/en/art-education

Images for the media Images are available for downloading on our website www.aargauerkunsthaus.ch> Media. Please consider the copyright.

Opening Hours Tue – Sun: 10 am – 5 pm; Thu: 10 am – 8 pm

For additional information please contact Madeleine Schuppli, Director, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Tel. +41 (0)62 835 23 30, email: [email protected] Katrin Weilenmann, Assistant Curator, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Tel. +41 (0)62 835 49 72; email: [email protected] Filomena Colecchia, Communication/Media, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Tel. +41 (0)62 835 23 34; email: [email protected]

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