Christo

Christo is one of the most famous of artists worldwide, though he died in 2020, because he made exhibits that were huge spectacles wherever they were, and made good photographs when seen from the air.

Toward the end of his career he made a point to say that the exhibits were done by "Christo and Jeanne Claude," thus giving credit to his wife, who did much of the work, though she died in 2009. Their exhibits were often enormous, and took a lot of planning with zoning commissions and people who didn't want rural land disturbed too greatly.

Christo was born in Bulgaria, while Jeanne Claude was born in Morocco; they met and married in Paris in the late 50's. Unlike most artists, they refused grants and public money, relying entirely on the sale of their own work. Often they would wrap a famous building in cellophane or some other material, and this would make the local fire department very nervous. Their work was almost always huge, visually impressive, and controversial. Once he placed a huge number of umbrellas along the California coast and in Japan at the same time; two people died as a result, one in each exhibit, but that was not unusual. Often his exhibits required huge amounts of fabric and expensive installation. One example was the Running Fence, which ran through California grassland and into the sea, but which was white nylon supported by steel posts and cables.

He became an American citizen in 1984, but continued with international fame and performance. One of his last projects was the wrapping of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris; this project required 30,000 square meters of recyclable polypropyline fabric. It was postponed due to happen in 2020 but was postponed due to the covid pandemic, and then due to Christo's death. But following his death, his followers and workers vowed to continue with the project and did.


___ 1. According to the article, most artists:
a. make exhibits as large as possible
b. do not like Christo and Jeanne Claude
c. live in Paris
d. rely on public aid of some kind

___ 2. Why are fire departments wary of Christo?
a. his exhibits could be a fire hazard
b. he is very critical of fire departments
c. often his exhibits include burning of materials
d. his exhibits prevent them from putting out fires

___ 3. Which is not true of the wrapping of the Arc de Triomphe?
a. it was never finished
b. Christo died before it was done
c. the pandemic upset the schedule for its wrapping
d. it required a huge amount of fabric

___ 4. What were Christo and Jeanne Claude most famous for?
a. exhibits that had bright colors
b. exhibits that were huge and visually impressive
c. exhibits that were intricate and complicated
d. exhibits that brought many people to one place