Artist Christian Marclay is more widely known for his work with sound and video, but he’s also the creator of highly arresting visual art. And that side of Marclay’s innovative oeuvre is on view now through October 10 at Hudson Hall in a solo exhibition of his visual art.
Born in California in 1955, Marclay studied art in Geneva and Boston before enrolling at the Cooper Union in New York in 1978. Influenced by the Fluxus movement of the 1960s and 1970s and its associated artists John Cage and Yoko Ono as well as early punk rock, he pioneered turntabilism by creating sonic works and performances using broken-and-reassembled vinyl records, some of which he played live using a self-made, strapped-on instrument he dubbed the phonoguitar.
Marclay was a prominent presence on the downtown New York early ’80s avant-garde scene that also produced Laurie Anderson, Sonic Youth, Jean-Michel Basquiat, John Zorn, and other artists. His notable video pieces include The Clock (2010), a 24-hour montage of time-related scenes from movies, and Made to Be Destroyed (2016), a compilation of film clips showing the destruction of art works or buildings.
His visual art, as seen in the Hudson exhibit, parallels the stitched-together assemblage methods of his audio works, encompassing video, photography, printmaking, and collage. In Marclay’s hands, “album covers, vinyl records, and musical scores become playful and provocative reflections on music, pop culture, and the physical traces of sound.”
Organized by the Second Ward Foundation, Christian Marclay’s solo exhibition is on display at Hudson Hall in Hudson through October 10.
“Christian Marclay”
Time Aug. 23-Oct. 5 2025
Location Hudson Hall, 327 Warren Street, Hudson
