Artists’ Birthdays: June the 13th – Christo Javacheff and Jeanne-Claude (1935)

Would you like to know it all? We would! That’s why the theme for our Know It All Section for 2012 is Artists’ Birthdays. We hope that these posts will help to increase our and your knowledge in Art History. Lets get acquainted with more painters, lets recognise their artwork and be inspired by the masterpieces!

— — —

Christo (Bulgarian), along with his wife/artistic partner Jeanne-Claude (French) (1935-2009), were best known for surrounding large items (islands, buildings) with fabric and creating extremely large scale public works of a temporary nature. His art is designed to be viewed from the ground, and concentrates on using fabrics, cloth and textiles.

To be honest I’m not even sure if this can be called Art… I guess this stuff is balancing somewhere on the thin line that separates Art and just CRAZY ideas. At the same time this is something completely different, unique and it caught my attention; hopefully you will find it interesting and inspiring (such inspiration might be very handy just before Christmas…).

By the way, for more information definitely visit their official website – please click here.

— — —

Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Christo and Jeanne-Claude were born on the same date. They first met in Paris in October 1958. Their works were credited to just “Christo” until 1994 when the outdoor works and large indoor installations were retroactively credited to “Christo and Jeanne-Claude”. Sadly Jeanne-Claude died, aged 74, on November 18, 2009.

Although their work is visually impressive and often controversial as a result of its scale, the artists have repeatedly denied that their projects contain any deeper meaning than their immediate aesthetic impact. The purpose of their art, they contend, is simply to create works of art or joy and beauty and to create new ways of seeing familiar landscapes.

Christo’s statement:

“I am an artist, and I have to have courage … Do you know that I don’t have any artworks that exist? They all go away when they’re finished. Only the preparatory drawings, and collages are left, giving my works an almost legendary character. I think it takes much greater courage to create things to be gone than to create things that will remain.”

Below you will find just a few of the non existant artworks (or crazy ideas) that have been certainly noticed and loved by millions.

Pink Skirted Islands by Christo, 1983, Biscayne Bay, Miami, Flordia

Surrounded Islands:

Christo and Jeanne-Claude planned a project based on Jeanne-Claude’s idea to surround eleven islands in Miami’s Biscayne Bay with 603,850 square meters of pink polypropylene floating fabric. It was completed on 4 May 1983 with the aid of 430 workers and could be admired for two weeks.

For 2 weeks Surrounded Islands spreading over 11.3 kilometers (7.0 mi) was seen, approached and enjoyed by the public, from the causeways, the land, the water and the air. The luminous pink color of the shiny fabric was in harmony with the tropical vegetation of the uninhabited verdant island, the light of the Miami sky and the colors of the shallow waters of Biscayne Bay.

The Reichstag (Berlin) wrapped in silver fabric by Christo, June 1995

Wrapped Reichstag:

With the support of the President of the Parliament, Rita Süssmuth, Christo and Jeanne-Claude worked to convince the elected Members of Parliament, going from office to office, writing explanatory letters to each of the 662 delegates and innumerable telephone calls and negotiations. On 25 February 1995 after a 70 minute debate at the Parliament and a Roll Call vote, the Bundestag allowed the project to go ahead.

Just under 100,000 square meters of fireproof polypropylene fabric, covered by an aluminum layer, and 15 km of rope were needed. The wrapping began on 17 June 1995 and was finished on 24 June. The spectacle was seen by five million visitors before the unveiling began on 7 July.

Christo, Wrapped Trees, Switzerland, 1998

Wrapped Trees:

Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapped 178 trees in Berower Park/Beyeler Foundation north-east of Basel between 13 November and 14 December 1998. To wrap the trees, the couple used 55,000 square meters of silver-grey shiny polyester fabric and 23 km of rope. A pattern had to be made for each individual tree and so the natural shape of the branches pushed the fabric outwards, creating individual shapes in the sky. The trees varied in height from 2 to 25 meters and in width from 1 to nearly 15 meters. As with their other projects, this was financed by the sale of original works. All materials used in this project were recycled when it was taken down.

IMPORTANT: In 2013, Christo will realize a new indoor installation inside the Gasometer, Oberhausen, Germany. A press conference will be held in Oberhausen on June 14, 2012. That’s tomorrow 😉

Information for this post found on Wikipedia, Encyclopedia Britannica, Ask.com and About.com