As part of its 20th Anniversary celebration, Artpace is pleased to bring world-renowned artist Christian Marclay to San Antonio for the Texas premiere of his video Guitar Drag, 2000, (opening at Artpace Thursday, May 28, 2015 6-9pm). In addition to exhibiting Guitar Drag in the Hudson (Show)Room, Artpace and Trinity University Press will present A Conversation with Christian Marclay conducted by former Artpace Director Amada Cruz on Wednesday May 27, 2015 at 6:30pm. Marclay’s sculptures and installations have been exhibited in museums and galleries internationally, including solo exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; MoMA PS1, New York; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Centre Pompidou, Paris; and the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. In 2011, Marclay received the Golden Lion award for best artist at the Venice Biennale.

During his 1999 Artpace residency Marclay created Guitar Drag, a 14-minute video depicting a pickup truck dragging an amplified, electric guitar tied by a rope across a Texas roadway to its aggressive destruction. This performance piece was created partly in response to the 1998 murder of 49-year-old James Byrd, Jr. of Jasper, TX by three white supremacists and its widespread repercussions. In an effort to combat hate violence, in 2009 President Barak Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, named in their respective memories. Guitar Drag not only resonates with our aural and visual senses, but also simultaneously investigates multiple layers of history, race, geography, and timely social issues. Sixteen years after its initial making, Artpace will proudly present the completed version of Marclay’s Guitar Drag on May 28, 2015 (6-9pm)