Current Work: Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Current Work
Christo
“Two Works in Progress: Over the River, Project for the Arkansas River, Colorado and The Mastaba, Project for the United Arab Emirates”
Introduced by Wendy Evans Joseph

1.5 CEUs

Christo will present two works in progress: “Over the River, Project for the Arkansas River, Colorado,” which will suspend 5.9 miles of fabric panels over a forty mile stretch of the Arkansas River in Colorado; and “The Mastaba, Project for the United Arab Emirates,” which will consist of 410,000 horizontally stacked, multi-colored oil barrels, forming an oblong trapezoidal monument nearly 150 x 225 x 300 m.

For over fifty years, the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s large-scale environmental works of art have juxtaposed the familiar and unfamiliar in rural and urban contexts, allowing viewers to experience landscapes, architecture, and objects with new eyes. The artists have realized numerous artworks including Wrapped Coast, One Million Square Feet, Little Bay, Australia, 1969; Valley Curtain, Rifle, Colorado, 1970-72; Running Fence, Sonoma and Marin Counties, California,1972-76; Surrounded Islands, Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami, Florida, 1980-83; The Pont Neuf Wrapped, Paris, 1975-85; Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin, 1971-95; The Wall – 13,000 Oil Barrels, Gasometer, Oberhausen, Germany, 1999; and The Gates, Central Park, New York City, 1979-2005.

Christo, born in Bulgaria and studied at the Fine Arts Academy, Sofia, met Jeanne-Claude in 1958 in Paris and have collaborated since 1961. The artists permanently took up residence in New York in 1964. Jeanne-Claude passed away in 2009.

Wendy Evans Joseph founded Wendy Evans Joseph Architecture in 1996 and serves on the Architectural League Board of Directors.

Tickets are required for admission to League programs. Tickets are free for League members; $15 for non-members. Members may reserve a ticket by e-mailing: [email protected]. Member tickets will be held at the check-in desk; unclaimed tickets will be released fifteen minutes after the start of the program. Non-members may purchase tickets at www.archleague.org > events from November 29 until 3:00 p.m. the day of the program. Co-sponsored by The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union. AIA and New York State continuing education credits are available.

This program was made possible in part by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency; and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.