Christo

The world's greatest living wrap star. Christo produces poetic jestures sometimes called art. His trademark is wrapping monuments, architectural oddities and other public objects in fabric--tons of fabric-- in an attempt to show how realism can be used to conceal objects in everyday life.
Always ludicrous and always beautiful, his works are reminiscent of the covered mystery Islamic women. Every several years he finds a new target: the Reichstag, pretty pink skirts for a chain of islands in Biscayne Bay or a "running fence" for Sonoma and Marin counties.
His projects cost millions of dollars and provide an easy laugh for detractors who despise modern art but his supporters, and there are many, call him an artistic revolutionary. There is a series of documentaries following the progress of Christo's work by filmakers Albert and David Maysles.
Say what you will about his art, Christo doesn't seem to care. His aim is to take art and beauty out of the museums and galleries of the wealthy and put it on display for all to see.

Christo Javacheff was born in Bulgaria in 1935, in the city of Gabrovo. He studied sculpture and painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. By way of Prague and Vienna, he ended up in Paris in 1958. Here he meets Jeanne-Claude Guillebon, who happens to be born the very same day as himself. They start working together and still does so. This same year he starts packaging things as art.

He moved to New York in 1964, where he were starting to receive more and more attention. Here he also started working with buildings. Four years later he wrapped a whole building - the Berner Kunsthalle.

Together with Jeanne-Claude, he now started doing larger and larger packages and projects, such as the famous Running Fence in California 1976. The following year they toured the world with an exhibition about the Running Fence project. This is now the way they work with all their projects, first several years of planning, then the installation, and finally a tour with an exhibition. Their latest large-scale project was the Wrapped Reichstag in Berlin, 1995.

Major Projects by Christo - Jeanne
• Running Fence, California
• Valley Curtain, Colorado
• The Pont Neuf Wrapped, Paris
• The Umbrellas, Japan - USA
• Surrounded Islands, Florida
• Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin

The works by the Christos, which are made of manufactured materials, still create a meaningful connection with the environment, even if their purpose is not always entirely obvious. In their many pieces, including “Running Fence” and “Surrounded Islands”, the intent doesn’t merely lie in creating an aesthetically pleasing piece of environmental art, which many observers have assumed. A major part of the intended meaning exists in the steps the Christos take to allow their piece to be built. Before creating a work of art, they often have to fill out hundreds of environmental impact sheets as well as report to committees that don’t want the piece to see completion. Despite the environmental controversy that follows the Christos’ pieces, the Christos never intend to disrupt the environment in a permanent way, and their art is not about creating a dominating sculpture (such as works my Michael Heizer). The finished artworks cause little to no damage to the environment and the pieces are always temporary. However, the finished artworks are also very extravagant and time consuming, and the Christos hire local construction workers to build the projects. By hiring local workers, the piece gains a sense of unity and belongingness at the site. The beginning struggle that transitions into warmhearted welcomes from the construction workers brings consciousness to the land and people, which is a major part of the artwork and meanings implied.