About
Christo is best known for monumental collaborations with his late partner Jeanne-Claude. The focus of their practice is environmental works of art and they are famous for their large-scale environmental projects at sites around the world, including the Reichstag in Berlin, the Pont Neuf in Paris, Central Park in New York and the Coast of Little Bay in Sydney. Christo and Jeanne-Claude's first artistic collaboration was in 1961, in which they covered barrels at the port of Cologne. They worked together under the name Christo until 1994, when they began publishing their projects as ‘Christo & Jeanne-Claude’. In gallery spaces, Christo presents schematic drawings and sculptures (running by his name only) of the duo’s work, which exhibit the artist’s technical mastery and undergird their massive installations, connecting the big ideas to their inception as free-floating thoughts.
The projects that they have created have been renowned as monumental feats of creativity, planning and organisation. Over their career spanning more than four decades, Annely Juda Fine Art has proudly held 12 exhibitions of their work, from Projects Not Realised in 1971, to Christo and Jeanne-Claude 40 Years – 12 Exhibitions in 2011.
In 2016, Christo unveiled his first major project in over a decade. For 16 days, Italy’s Lake Iseo was reimagined using 100,000 square meters of shimmering yellow fabric carried by a modular floating dock system of 220,000 high-density poly-ethylene cubes. The 'piers' undulated with the movement of the water as they rose just above the surface of the water.
Biography
1935Both Christo and Jeanne-Claude were born on 13th June, 1935; Christo in Gabrovo, Bulgaria and Jeanne-Claude in Casablanca, Morocco. Christo's father, Vladimir Javacheff, was a businessman and ran a fabric factory, and his mother, Tsveta Dimitrova, was the secretary at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sofia. Jeanne-Claude's mother, Précilda married at 17 to Jeanne-Claude's father, Major Léon Denat who was stationed in Casablanca with the French Military.1952Jeanne-Claude earned a bachelors degree in Latin and philosophy in 1952 from the University of Tunis, Tunisia1953–56Christo studied art at the Sofia Academy in Bulgaria1958Christo and Jeanne-Claude met in October, 19581994Both artists decided to officially change the artist name "Christo" into the artists "Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Before 1994, when their projects were retroactively credited to both artists, they were collectively known as “Christo”.1995Christo was awarded the "Praemium Imperiale", a 'World Culture Prize' awarded by the imperial family of Japan on behalf of the Japan Art Association in the fields painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and theatre/film. These are areas of achievement not covered by the Nobel Prizes.2005Christo and Jeanne-Claude were awarded with "Lorenzo Il Magnifico" (Lifetime Achievement) award by the President of the Florence Biennale, Pasquale Celona2009Jeanne-Claude died on November 18, 2009 in Manhattan, New York
Selected exhibitions
2018 'The London Mastaba', Serpentine Lake, London2016'The Floating Piers', Lago D'Iseo, Italy
2013 'Big Air Package – Project for Gasometer Oberhausen', Germany
2011 'Christo and Jeanne-Claude 40 Years - 12 Exhibitions', Annely Juda Fine Art, London
2005 'The Gates, Central Park, New York
1979-2005' New York
1995 'Wrapped Reichstag (Project for Berlin)', Berlin
1985 'The Pont Neuf Wrapped (Project for Paris)', Paris