Jeanne-Claude, one of the artists behind “The Gates,” died at the age of 74 on Wednesday night due to a brain aneurysm. Jeanne-Claude and her husband, Christo, are best known for wrapping famous structures. Her most notable work, or at least, her most recognizable project to Americans, has to be “The Gates” in Central Park. The show served as a site-specific, public art project that consisted of a series of orange-red gates throughout the park. Atop the gates rested nylon sheets of the same color, hanging midway down the length of each gate. The gates were inspired by and resembled Japanese Torii gates in Kyoto. There were reactions passionately for and against the structures—some thought the gates blocked out the existing natural layout of the park, while others thought it added a refreshing touch of color to an already bleak winter landscape. What, to me, was most interesting about this exhibition was the couple’s blatant refusal to accept any donations (i.e. they raised money without help from big organizations and wealthy donors). Instead, Christo and Jeanne-Claude sold collages and drawings from the 1960s and, with the money raised, were able to put together the entire show without having to solicit help from the city of New York. With this money, they were able to hire 600 paid employees, as well as sell T-shirts and other exhibition paraphernalia. Other projects include the more political and outspoken “Rideau de Fer” (Iron Curtain), a structure constructed in the early 1960s in Paris as a sculptural, silent statement against the Berlin Wall, and their numerous wrapping projects. Their Web site goes into specifics about one of their most important of the latter:
The Reichstag stands up in an open, strangely metaphysical area, The building has experienced its own continuous changes and perturbations: built in 1894, burned in 1933, almost destroyed in 1945, it was restored in the sixties, but the Reichstag always remained the symbol of Democracy. Throughout the history of art, the use of fabric has been a fascination for artists. From the most ancient times to the present, fabric, forming folds, pleats and draperies, is a significant part of paintings, frescoes, reliefs and sculptures made of wood, stone and bronze. The use of fabric on the Reichstag follows the classical tradition. Fabric, like clothing or skin, is fragile, it translates the unique quality of impermanence. For a period of two weeks, the richness of the silvery fabric, shaped by the blue ropes, created a sumptuous flow of vertical folds highlighting the features and proportions of the imposing structure, revealing the essence of the Reichstag.
The endeavors they chose were always grandiose and sometimes impossible, especially because of the daunting physical size of their projects but also because of the monetary mountain they had to overcome by refusing donations. Jeanne-Claude’s artistic presence will be sorely missed.
Here is an interview with Jeanne-Claude and Christo
Frustrated Jeanne-Claude and Christo try to clear up misconceptions about their public personas and their works. The set-up is pretty relaxed, but the language is really stern—I felt like I was getting scolded and couldn’t keep a straight face… Click here for a giggle! And… it is interesting.
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