Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Boundless
Saatchi Gallery, London
15 November 2023 – 22 January 2024
Saatchi Gallery presents the largest retrospective of the renowned artist duo Christo and Jeanne-Claude ever in the UK. Titled Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Boundless the exhibition traces their artistic journey, from experimental beginnings in Paris across six decades of collaboration. The exhibition showcases rarely-seen works and offers a glimpse into future projects to be undertaken by the estate of the artists.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Boundless introduces visitors to the couple’s seminal projects, ranging from their early collaborations to monumental masterpieces, among them Wrapped Coast in Australia (1969), Surrounded Islands (1983) in Miami/Florida, The Pont Neuf Wrapped in Paris (1985), The Umbrellas (1991), installed simultaneously in Japan and the USA, The Gates in Central Park, New York City (2005) and The Floating Piers at Lake Iseo in Italy (2016). It also includes the perspective The Mastaba, a project for Abu Dhabi. This exhibition is the last to ever be signed off by Christo before his death and is divided into ten thematic chapters.
The exhibition reveals a story of love and artistic collaboration between Christo and Jeanne-Claude, celebrating their artistic synergy and profound connection, contextualised alongside their artistic contemporaries, including Jean Dubuffet, Yves Klein, and Lucio Fontana. Boundless unveils a vivid narrative of passionate determination, highlighting the couple’s refusal to be confined by traditional norms and how this distinctive approach, fuelled their creative vision and shaped their artistic journey.
Jeanne-Claude’s gift for communication and her tenacity became the driving force in realising projects, often over the course of decades. It was essential to their artistic ethos that their ambitious installations were funded independently. The exhibition showcases how drawings, sketches, prints, and collages were transformed into valuable currency, providing the foundation for realising their larger-than-life visions.
A climactic juncture in their journey is showcased through the breathtaking wrapping of the Berlin Reichstag in 1995 and the Arc de Triomphe in Paris in 2021. These monumental achievements embody their daring and creative prowess, demonstrating their ability to transform public spaces into artistic canvases.
Journey through the unrealised dreams that shaped their legacy, with insight into The Mastaba (project for Abu Dhabi), which will be an enduring monument to the couple’s boundless creativity. Larger than the Great Pyramid of Giza, this visionary concept stands as a testament to the enduring impact of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s expression and drive.
The exhibition was conceived and curated by Kay Heymer, together with co-curator Sophie-Marie Sümmermann and was first shown at Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf. Alongside Christo and Jeanne-Claude, the following artists are represented in the exhibition: Arman, Alberto Burri, César, Jean Dubuffet, Lucio Fontana, Raymond Hains, Yves Klein, Jacques Mahé de la Villeglé, Piero Manzoni, Arnulf Rainer, Niki de Saint Phalle, Daniel Spoerri, Antoni Tàpies, Jean Tinguely and Wolf Vostell.
Lorenza Giovanelli, representative of the artists’ estate: “Christo and Jeanne-Claude have a long history with the city of London. Their first project in London dates back to 1963 when they wrapped a female model in the studio of photographer and filmmaker Charles Wilp. Over the years, they returned many times and became close friends with art dealers Annely and David Ju-da, who, since 1971, organized more than a dozen exhibitions with Christo and Jeanne-Claude.In 2018, Christo realized The London Mastaba on Hyde Park’s Serpentine Lake, his first major public out-door work in the UK. Now thanks to Ingrid and Thomas Jochheim, who shared a long friendship with the artists and have made their collection available to the public, the exhibition at Saatchi Gallery offers a unique opportunity to revisit Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s work on a large scale.”
SAATCHI GALLERY
Duke of York’s HQ, King’s Road, London, SW3 4RY
BY JACOB BAAL-TESHUVA
Published by Taschen
26 x 21 cm, 96 pages
@Taschen - www.taschen.com
A short but very interesting book.
