Christian Marclay "Listening"
Gallery Koyanagi
Until Jun 30
SHARE
Artists
Christian Marclay
Gallery Koyanagi is pleased to present “Christian Marclay: Listening”, an exhibition of new works by Christian Marclay on view from Saturday, April 4 to Tuesday, June 30, 2026. As in his previous exhibition at the gallery “Voices” in 2021, Marclay has composed the exhibition with original collages from his most recent series. Following the gallery’s first collaboration with the artist in 1996, this exhibition will be Marclay’s fourth solo presentation with the gallery since 2001, and also marks the 40th anniversary of the artist’s first visit to Japan in 1986.
Christian Marclay’s new series of collages places the act of listening at its centre. Listening — to music and to sound more broadly — has long shaped his practice, dissolving the boundary between sound and image so that they operate within a single perceptual field.
Collage remains fundamental to Marclay’s methodology. Across video, sound, and works on paper, he samples and splices fragments of popular culture — music recordings, film stills, manga, comics, magazine imagery — much like a DJ. Through strategies of concealment, cropping, and reframing, he activates the viewer’s imagination, allowing absence to become generative rather than void.
As in his video works 48 War Movies (2019) and Subtitled (2019), the Concentric Listening series unfolds through processes of extraction and recomposition. Instead of presenting complete faces sourced from magazines, Marclay removes their features, preserving only the outer contours of the head, including the protruding ears. The centre is hollowed out. What remains are outlines — vacant shells layered one within another. The faces nest concentrically, like a target or rippling water, forming radiating rings.
In Eccentric Listening, the compositions open into a more spatial dynamic. Each ear retains its individuality — as distinct as a fingerprint — even as it participates in a collective structure.
A related strategy of framing and partial revelation appears in Oculi (Listening Trio) (2026), part of Marclay’s new collage series based on vintage record covers and sleeves. Here the central circular cutouts of the sleeves — originally designed to display the record label — become compositional apertures. Through these openings, fragments of LP cover imagery emerge, while concealing the larger image.
Listening thus becomes both image and idea. It is not a singular, linear act but a layered and cumulative process. Perception radiates outward in expanding circles, moving from the solitary body toward a shared field of resonance.
The ear itself mirrors collage: a conduit between external sound and internal interpretation, between private experience and public space. In these works, collage is not merely a technique of assembly but a metaphor for listening itself — fragments circulating, overlapping, and reverberating.
Christian Marclay’s new series of collages places the act of listening at its centre. Listening — to music and to sound more broadly — has long shaped his practice, dissolving the boundary between sound and image so that they operate within a single perceptual field.
Collage remains fundamental to Marclay’s methodology. Across video, sound, and works on paper, he samples and splices fragments of popular culture — music recordings, film stills, manga, comics, magazine imagery — much like a DJ. Through strategies of concealment, cropping, and reframing, he activates the viewer’s imagination, allowing absence to become generative rather than void.
As in his video works 48 War Movies (2019) and Subtitled (2019), the Concentric Listening series unfolds through processes of extraction and recomposition. Instead of presenting complete faces sourced from magazines, Marclay removes their features, preserving only the outer contours of the head, including the protruding ears. The centre is hollowed out. What remains are outlines — vacant shells layered one within another. The faces nest concentrically, like a target or rippling water, forming radiating rings.
In Eccentric Listening, the compositions open into a more spatial dynamic. Each ear retains its individuality — as distinct as a fingerprint — even as it participates in a collective structure.
A related strategy of framing and partial revelation appears in Oculi (Listening Trio) (2026), part of Marclay’s new collage series based on vintage record covers and sleeves. Here the central circular cutouts of the sleeves — originally designed to display the record label — become compositional apertures. Through these openings, fragments of LP cover imagery emerge, while concealing the larger image.
Listening thus becomes both image and idea. It is not a singular, linear act but a layered and cumulative process. Perception radiates outward in expanding circles, moving from the solitary body toward a shared field of resonance.
The ear itself mirrors collage: a conduit between external sound and internal interpretation, between private experience and public space. In these works, collage is not merely a technique of assembly but a metaphor for listening itself — fragments circulating, overlapping, and reverberating.
Schedule Now in session | Apr 4 (Sat) 2026-Jun 30 (Tue) 2026 86 days left Opening Hours Information
Opening Reception Apr 4 (Sat) 2026 17:00 - 19:00 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fee | Free | ||||
| Website | https://gallerykoyanagi.com/en/exhibitions/christian-marclay%e3%80%80listening/ | ||||
| Venue | Gallery Koyanagi http://www.gallerykoyanagi.com | ||||
| Location | 9F Koyanagi Bldg., 1-7-5 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061 | ||||
| Access | 2 minute walk from exit 7 at Ginza-itchome Station on the Yurakucho line. 3 minute walk from exit 3 at Kyobashi Station on the Ginza line. 6 minute walk from exit A9 at Ginza Station on the Ginza, Hibiya and Marunouchi lines. | ||||
| Phone | 03-3561-1896 | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
Back to Articles
SHARE
No comments yet