VARIOUS: ARTIST CHRISTO ANNOUNCES HIS NEW ART PIECE OF CLOTH GATES 'THE GATES, CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK 1979-2005' WILL BE INSTALLED IN CENTRAL PARK
Record ID:
858706
VARIOUS: ARTIST CHRISTO ANNOUNCES HIS NEW ART PIECE OF CLOTH GATES 'THE GATES, CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK 1979-2005' WILL BE INSTALLED IN CENTRAL PARK
- Title: VARIOUS: ARTIST CHRISTO ANNOUNCES HIS NEW ART PIECE OF CLOTH GATES 'THE GATES, CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK 1979-2005' WILL BE INSTALLED IN CENTRAL PARK
- Date: 22nd January 2003
- Summary: (L!1) BERLIN, GERMANY (FILE - JUNE 18, 1995) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) AERIAL SHOT OF REICHSTAG VARIOUS SHOTS OF BUILDING BEING WRAPPED MED SHOT OF CHRISTO LOOKING UP AT PROJECT (L!1) PARIS, FRANCE (FILE - SEPTEMBER 19, 1985) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) WIDE SHOT OF BRIDGE MED SHOT OF SUPPORT OF BRIDGE CHRISTO ON BOAT LOOKING UP AT PROJECT PULL OUT OF WRAPPED BRIDGE
- Embargoed: 6th February 2003 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK UNITED STATES, BERLIN, GERMANY, FRANCE
- City:
- Country: Usa France Germany
- Topics: Entertainment,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVADVBKOYB4BCETKM0ULRGQ7TR1
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- Story Text: Renowned artist Christo, who has "wrapped" his way around the world, announced along with New York City officials, that Christo's next work will be hanging in New York City's Central Park.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined artists Christo and Jeanne Claude on Wednesday (January 22) to announce that the artists have the city's approval to install 16-foot-tall (4.8-meter-tall) gates of billowing saffron-coloured cloth in New York's Central Park.
"The Gates, Central Park, New York, 1979-2005" will consist of 7,500 gates stretching across 23 miles of Central Park's walking paths.
Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude are famous for completing several abstract works around the world, most notably, wrapping the Pont Neuf in golden fabric in 1985, wrapping silver fabric around the German Reichstag in 1995 and opening more than 3,000 coloured umbrellas across valleys in Japan and California in 1991.
The artists said the idea came to them over two decades ago.
"There was other proposals in the 60s but in the 70s, I said in the press conference, I tried to do project because New York is walking city. And this is how "The Gates" came.
And that project will be only in New York we will not do another gates somewhere else. Our project, they also unique project, there will be never again gates anywhere in the world."
Christo told Reuters he couldn't imagine a better place for an installation like "The Gates."
"We are artists ourselves, for 40 years living here, we have many friends, many many good friends, art lovers, collectors and of course it would be fabulous to have the project here that they can really walk from their houses directly to the project."
When the couple first proposed the Central park project, city officials rejected it saying it would be too destructive to city property. However, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe says, several considerable factors have changed, making the project feasible.
"Fundamentally, there are half as many gates as were originally proposed and also the method of installation which originally would have been quite destructive to the park ...
involving sinking 30,000 holes into the grass, into the shrubs into the tree roots. there will no longer be holes anywhere in the ground. and nothing will be on the he grass, it will all be on asphalt paths.
"That evolution of the plan, and the artists' willingness to evolve their own vision and the city's ability to handle an event like this, thanks to the Central Park Conservancy, those are the two factors that made this possible."
Christo and his wife, Jeanne-Claude, will provide the city with $3 million, to fund the project. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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