Inspired by Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Christo Vladimirov Javacheff (1935–2020) and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (1935–2009) were a husband and wife artistic partnership known for some of the most outrageous, large-scale, outdoor creative projects in the last century of modern art. The pair met in Paris in the late 1950s having relocated from their native Bulgaria and Morocco. 

Working alongside his wife and artistic partner, Christo entered the art scene with their exterior installation the Iron Curtain, which saw them barricade a Parisian street with oil barrels in 1962. Since then, barrels have become a motif of the couple's work, reappearing most notably for Mastaba, a floating sculpture located on the Serpentine in London in 2018. The barrel exists both as a physical object well-adapted to the building of sculpture on a large-scale but also as an anti-capitalist political statement. Their work was typically large, visually impressive and controversial, often taking years of planning. The desired effect of their art is one of inspiring awe which they achieve through grand scale artistic endeavors. The couple state their projects convey no deeper meaning than their immediate aesthetic impact. 

In their career, Christo and Jeanne-Claude sought to break the boundaries of art's limitations. Their best known works include the wrapping of the Reichstag in Germany and the Pont Neuf in Paris, as well as the 381-meter-long orange curtain stretched between two mountains in Colorado, known as the Valley Curtain. More recently, in 2021, the wrapping of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris (carried out posthumously) made an international impression. Today, on Artsper, check out contemporary artists such as Kico Camacho, Elisabeth Cibot and Efi Mashiah following in this legendary pair's footsteps as they challenge the art world with their creations that break convention.