Environmental and conceptual artist Jeanne-Claude, who created the 1976 "Running Fence" project in California, the 2005 Central Park installation, The Gates, and other large scale 'wrapping' projects around the globe with her husband Christo, has died. She was 74.
Recently the pair worked on preparations for “Over The River, Project for the Arkansas River, State of Colorado,” in which 5.9 miles of luminous fabric would be strung above the river. They also had been refining plans for The Mastaba, a pyramid-like structure with 410,000 brightly colored oil barrels stacked horizontally and rising 492 feet high and 984 feet wide. (Link)
Although their work is visually impressive and often controversial as a result of its scale, the artists have repeatedly denied that their projects contain any deeper meaning than their immediate aesthetic. The purpose of their art, they contend, is simply to create works of art or joy and beauty and to create new ways of seeing familiar landscapes. Art critic David Bourdon has described Christo's wrappings as a "revelation through concealment." (Link)
The "Running Fence", a 24.5 mile structure in Sonoma and Marin Counties, California 1976
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