Christo

*1935 in Gabrovo/Bulgaria – 2020 in New York

Wrapping as a unique stylistic device to show the value of an object

As early as the end of the 1950s in Paris, Christo began wrapping objects such as bottles, chairs and cars – everyday objects that were not of any particular beauty or interest. Christo thus made it clear that any object can be of significance for art.

Christo sees art as poetry – a work of art should not follow a specific purpose or propaganda. “The wrapping shows the rough structures, abstracts the object”. In the consumer society of our time, Christo takes the opposite approach and draws attention to the actual value of the content by simply covering it up.

Important Projects

1961:

Stacked oil drums and wrappings in the port of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

1962:

The Iron Curtain – Wall made from oil drums, Rue Visconti, Paris, France

1964:

Store Fronts, New York, USA

1968:

5.600-Cubicmeter-Package, 4. Documenta, Kassel, Germany
Covered fountain and tower, Spoleto, Italy
Wrapped Kunsthalle, Bern, Switzerland

1969:

Wrapped Coast Line, Little Bay, Australia
America-House Heidelberg, German-American Institute Heidelberg, Germany
Wrapped Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, USA

1970:

Wrapped Monument Vittorio Emanuele, Piazza del Duomo , Milano, Italy
Wrapped Monument Leonardo da Vinci, Piazza della Scala, Milano, Italy

1971:

Project “mon SCHAU”, Monschau, Germany

1972:

Valley Curtain, Grand Hogback, Rifle, Colorado, USA
Documenta 5, Kassel, Germany

1974:

Ocean Front, Newport, Rhode Island, USA
Wrapped Roman Wall Porta Pinciana, Rome, Italy

1976:

Running Fence, Sonoma und Marin Counties, California, USA

1977:

Documenta 6, Kassel, Germany

1978:

Wrapped Walk Ways, Loose Park, Kansas City, USA

1983:

Wrapped Islands, Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami, Florida, USA

1985:

Wrapped Pont Neuf, Paris, France

1991:

The Umbrellas, Japan-USA

1995:

Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin, Germany

1998:

Wrapped Trees, Fondation Beyeler and Berower Park, Riehen, Germany

1999:

The Wall, 13,000 oil barrels, Gasometer Oberhausen, Oberhausen, Germany

2005:

The Gates, Central Park, New York City, USA

2013:

Big Air Package, Gasometer Oberhausen, Oberhausen, Germany

2016:

The Floating Piers, Lago d´Iseo, Italy

2018:

The Mastaba, London, United Kingdom

2021:

Wrapped Arc de Triomphe, Paris, France

Biography

Christo, who was born Vladimirov Javacheff in Gabrovo, Bulgaria, in 1935, is one of the most prominent and popular artists of our time. Christo moved to Paris in 1958, where he joined the “Nouveau Réalisme” artists’ group and met his wife Jeanne-Claude. From 1964, the artist couple lived and worked as an inseparable artistic unit in New York and realized spectacular projects worldwide.

With their oversized wrappings of buildings and landscapes, assemblages of oil drums, installations and wrapped objects, Christo and Jeanne-Claude created a new awareness of reality and history in relation to an object or place.

Works

Unique Artworks

Artworks on Canvas

Artworks on paper

Large Size

Small & Medium Size

Wall Sculptures

Sculptures

Outdoor Objects

Multiples

Graphic Art

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