CHRISTO

Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude are known for their giant "wrapping" projects, in which they envelop natural and urban spaces in fabric. Their projects include the Valley Curtain in Colorado (1972), which took the form of a huge curtain of orange tulle hung between two hills, blocking the space of the landscape; Running Fence (1976), a nylon fence stretching from San Francisco to Santa Rosa; the wrapping of the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris (1985); and the Gates, which was on display in New York’s Central Park from 2004-2005. Christo and Jeanne-Claude have also wrapped public buildings such as the Kunsthalle in Bern, Switzerland (1967-1968), the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago (1969), and the Reichstag in Berlin (1995).

Christo’s penchant for "wrapping" may be subject to various interpretations: it may, for example, conceal and change the object to make it more attractive, or conversely make the viewer value the object’s real, original appearance.
One could argue that the wrapping technique also implies a critique of consumerist society, by presenting the object as transformed into a "product". This interpretation aligns itself with the beliefs of the "Nouveaux Réalistes" movement, a group in which he played a role. Other critics have read their work politically: projects such as The Iron Curtain, displayed on the Rue Visconti in Paris (1962), served effectively to protest the erection of the Berlin Wall.

Installation art, land art and in situ works all have a limited duration, since they challenge and impose upon the inherent nature of the space. However, such ephemeral creations respond to the laws of spectacularization: Christo’s work overcomes temporal limitations by creating a memory of its presence. Things such as the production and sale of plans, the sketches and preliminary designs, photographs of the installations and any products derived from the exhibits all exemplify the lasting impact that installation art can have. Artists like Christo gain public fame through their projects, which grant them the ability to finance their “happenings,” as well as to manage their own work.

Yves Malrin

Selected Works

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