Christo
Quick Summary
Christo, born in Bulgaria, was an environmental sculptor known for his large-scale, often controversial outdoor installations. Collaborating with his wife, Jeanne-Claude, he created monumental works that involved wrapping buildings, suspending fabric structures, and surrounding islands with materials like plastic and fabric.1
His art aimed to engage the public directly, transforming familiar landscapes and urban spaces. Projects like Valley Curtain, Running Fence, and wrapping the Pont Neuf in Paris, challenged viewers to reconsider their surroundings and the nature of art itself. These temporary installations required extensive planning, permits, and hundreds of assistants, often taking decades to realize.12
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environmental sculptureThe Bulgarian-born artist Christo has involved large numbers of people in the planning and construction of such mammoth alfresco art projects as Valley Curtain (1972; Rifle Gap, Colo.). Christo’s numerous “wrapped buildings” have been notable among urban environmental works of the past few decades.
Read MoreThe Bulgarian-born artist Christo has involved large numbers of people in the planning and construction of such mammoth alfresco art projects as Valley Curtain (1972; Rifle Gap, Colo.). Christo’s numerous “wrapped buildings” have been notable among urban environmental works of the past few decades.
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Western paintingLand artBulgarian-born artist Christo and Jeanne-Claude, his Moroccan-born wife, specialized throughout the 1960s and ’70s in wrapping sites (including part of Sydney’s coastline in 1969) and made maximum use of the American landscape in their Running Fence (1972–76), for which they ran 18-foot- (5.5-meter-) high sections of white…
Read MoreBulgarian-born artist Christo and Jeanne-Claude, his Moroccan-born wife, specialized throughout the 1960s and ’70s in wrapping sites (including part of Sydney’s coastline in 1969) and made maximum use of the American landscape in their Running Fence (1972–76), for which they ran 18-foot- (5.5-meter-) high sections of white…
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