ExhibitionJuly 14, 2020
The Centre Pompidou opens Christo and Jeanne-Claude
The Centre Pompidou in Paris opened a show dedicated to Christo and Jeanne-Claude on July 1st. Almost a month after Christo’s death, the show is the antecedent of the Paris Arc de Triomphe wrapping, planned for 2021.
The exhibition retraces the artists’ Parisian time, from 1958-1964 and 1975-1985 when they developed the idea of wrapping the Pont-Neuf in Paris in a golden sandstone-colored polyamide canvas, which would cover the sides and the vaults of the bridge’s twelve arches, the parapets, the edges and the footpaths (the public could walk on the canvas), its 44 lamps and the vertical walls of the central island of the western end of Île de la Cité and the Esplanade du Vert-Galant.
Christo (Christo Vladimirov Javacheff) and Jeanne-Claude (Jeanne-Claude Marie Denat), both born on June 13th, 1935, respectively, in Gabrovo (Bulgaria) and Casablanca (Morocco), met in Paris at the age of 23. Christo fled from communist Bulgaria, passing through Prague, Vienna, and Geneva, and settling in Paris in March 1958. His training at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sofia gives him mastery of classical disciplines.
The curator of the exhibition Sophie Duplaix comments in the shows’ presentation: “This group for the Pont-Neuf wrapping is presented in the exhibition as an immense installation. It confirms the idea that Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s urban projects are not limited to the moment of wrapping but commence with the first contacts and negotiations, thus forming part of the reality of life.”
The exhibition can be visited until October 19th, and it is mandatory to buy tickets online. For more information visit: https://www.centrepompidou.fr
The exhibition retraces the artists’ Parisian time, from 1958-1964 and 1975-1985 when they developed the idea of wrapping the Pont-Neuf in Paris in a golden sandstone-colored polyamide canvas, which would cover the sides and the vaults of the bridge’s twelve arches, the parapets, the edges and the footpaths (the public could walk on the canvas), its 44 lamps and the vertical walls of the central island of the western end of Île de la Cité and the Esplanade du Vert-Galant.
Christo (Christo Vladimirov Javacheff) and Jeanne-Claude (Jeanne-Claude Marie Denat), both born on June 13th, 1935, respectively, in Gabrovo (Bulgaria) and Casablanca (Morocco), met in Paris at the age of 23. Christo fled from communist Bulgaria, passing through Prague, Vienna, and Geneva, and settling in Paris in March 1958. His training at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sofia gives him mastery of classical disciplines.
The curator of the exhibition Sophie Duplaix comments in the shows’ presentation: “This group for the Pont-Neuf wrapping is presented in the exhibition as an immense installation. It confirms the idea that Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s urban projects are not limited to the moment of wrapping but commence with the first contacts and negotiations, thus forming part of the reality of life.”
The exhibition can be visited until October 19th, and it is mandatory to buy tickets online. For more information visit: https://www.centrepompidou.fr
