Bulgaria-Born Christo Wraps New York Central Park
Society | April 6, 2004, Tuesday
A Met exhibit shows what the much-debated Gates Project in Central Park would look like when it opens next February. Photo by nypost.com
Bulgaria-born artist Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude, famous for wrapping Germany's Reichstag in fabric, are to install several thousands of gates in Central Park after winning a long-drawn-out battle with the city council of New York.
A total of 7,500 16-foot tall gates of saffron colored vinyl throughout most of Central Park are to bring the impression of a passing river.
The Central Park project was preceded by the opening of an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It presents both the upcoming project, as well as a retrospective look at the artist's works - from the little packed objects dated 1958 till the culmination of the Reichstag, which came into fruition in 1995.
At the opening of the exhibition Jeanne-Claude spoke of the dedication needed to finance such a project.
"We sell everything we have - drawings, scale models of the project . . . except our son."
The sixteen-day New York attraction in February next year aims to repeat the Reichstag project success, which drew to Berlin over 5 million visitors.
The idea for "The Gates" project dates back to 1968. Over the years Christo and Jeanne-Claude sought the support of four successive New York mayors, but it was now that it got green lighted by current mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Not everyone has been that enthusiastic about "The Gates" project. James Gardner in New York Post claimed the idea of wrapping a big public thing just isn't all that interesting visually or conceptually. In his opinion it was only with the advent of the artist-loving Mayor Bloomberg that they "finally found the sucker of their dreams".
A total of 7,500 16-foot tall gates of saffron colored vinyl throughout most of Central Park are to bring the impression of a passing river.
The Central Park project was preceded by the opening of an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It presents both the upcoming project, as well as a retrospective look at the artist's works - from the little packed objects dated 1958 till the culmination of the Reichstag, which came into fruition in 1995.
At the opening of the exhibition Jeanne-Claude spoke of the dedication needed to finance such a project.
"We sell everything we have - drawings, scale models of the project . . . except our son."
The sixteen-day New York attraction in February next year aims to repeat the Reichstag project success, which drew to Berlin over 5 million visitors.
The idea for "The Gates" project dates back to 1968. Over the years Christo and Jeanne-Claude sought the support of four successive New York mayors, but it was now that it got green lighted by current mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Not everyone has been that enthusiastic about "The Gates" project. James Gardner in New York Post claimed the idea of wrapping a big public thing just isn't all that interesting visually or conceptually. In his opinion it was only with the advent of the artist-loving Mayor Bloomberg that they "finally found the sucker of their dreams".
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