thenationofartists.com

JEANNE-CLAUDE (1935-2009)



Once upon a time I was the stereotypical "writer in the village," living just north of Washington Square Park, rarely traipsing above 14th St and even less frequently taking in the homogenized "Upper" west and east sides where the number of Starbucks out-numbered the homeless.

I'd heard about the great wrapper Christo, considered his feats less inspiring than the great rapper Eminem, and scoffed at the price being paid by numerous art appreciators (including the City of New York) for the landscape origami'ist and his wife to blanket the green heart of the Big Apple with orange curtains.

But then I saw them. Hundreds of breezey, flowing punctuation marks against the green-ness. Hundreds of warm, welcoming envelopes against the grey-ness. Hundreds of soft, serene entrances to the blue-ness. And I liked them.

Jean-Claude, with more than enough name to shed her "Denat de Guillebon" surname, and husband Christo (who likewise had shed his "Vladimirov Javacheff" ending), were born on the same day in 1935. They wrapped the Reichstag and ran a fence through northern California, but it was their "The Gates, Central Park, New York 1979-2005" through which I found them. And it was the declarations that their works contained only an aesthetic appeal and no deeper meaning that made me enjoy their spirit more. For, despite the controversial nature of their work, their refusal to publicly philosophize or rationalize their work enabled each viewer to assign their own interpretation to the pieces, free of the burden of an official position. Even more bravely - their work lacked permanency and, upon its exhibition end-date, ceased to exist except in sketches, photographs and memories. There's a human element to that construct that I cannot ignore.

R.I.P. Jean Claude. Bravo, and thanks.



Image from the couple's website - www.christojeanneclaude.net/
class="style19">Photo: Wolfgang Volz
©2005 Christo and Jeanne-Claude