Christo
Christo
Christo Vladimirov Javacheff and Jeanne-Claude were a married couple who created environmental works of art. Christo and Jeanne-Claude were born on the same day, June 13, 1935; Christo in Gabrovo, Bulgaria, and Jeanne-Claude in Morocco. They first met in Paris in October 1958. They then fell in love through creating art work together...
NationalityBulgarian
ProfessionPainter
Date of Birth13 June 1935
CountryBulgaria
beaches brought condition exception original remove surrounded tons workers
The other exception where we did not at all restore the place to its original condition is the Surrounded Islands. Before we installed our fabric, we had our workers remove 42 tons of garbage off the beaches of those islands. We never brought the garbage back.
proposed
Some of the projects we've proposed over the years have been refused. But we never do other people's ideas; our ideas come out of our two hearts and our two heads.
chances name
The decision to use only the name Christo was made deliberately when we were young because it is difficult for one artist to get established and we wanted to put all the chances on our side.
arkansas both permit realized state trying work
The other work we started in 1992, it is called Over the River, Project for the Arkansas River in the state of Colorado, we haven't got the permit yet. And, we are working at both of those, trying to get the permit. Therefore, we do not know which one will be realized next.
art artists identity projects reveal slightest work
We are probably the only artists in the world who have a 2,000-page book on a work of art that doesn't exist. But in this way, these projects reveal their identity through this whole process. When I'm starting, I only have the slightest idea of how the work of art will exist.
arkansas block chose habitable high human river screen trees view
We chose the Arkansas River because it is so habitable there is so much human activity. Also, there is no screen of trees to block the view of the river and there are high banks,
happened life next november project river truly
But now, today, we don't know if Over the River is truly the next project to be realized, because something very nice happened to our life in November in New York.
art related york
Often the art in New York is related to the buildings, to grandiose things.
people
The only place where people in Manhattan walk for leisure is in the park.
japan permission project work wrap
We never work on only one project because we never know if we will get permission for a project. So, for 'Over the River,' we started in 1992. I was just finishing 'The Umbrellas' in Japan and California, and I was also working on getting permission to wrap the Reichstag.
artists became illegal moved three time
In 1964, Jeanne-Claude and I became illegal aliens. That's when we moved here from Paris. And for three years, we were illegal aliens living in an illegal building. At that time, some artists started to move to SoHo, and they put A.I.R. - artists-in-residence - up on their windows.
work
I do a lot of work that's permanent. The drawings, the sculptures, they're permanent.
arrive believe drawings hard people projection
Therefore, when we arrive in a place and talk to new people about a new image, it is very hard for them to visualize it. That's where the drawings are very important, because at least we can show a projection of what we believe it will look like.
art beings bigger build giant highways human monumental people thousands work
People think our work is monumental because it's art, but human beings do much bigger things: they build giant airports, highways for thousands of miles, much, much bigger than what we create.