Christo, Bulgarian-born artist best known for temporary installations, dies in New York - ABC Technology and Games

Christo, the Bulgarian-born artist best known for his temporary installations based on wrapping the exteriors of landmark buildings, bridges and outdoor spaces, died at age 84 of natural causes at his home in New York City.

Famous for his large projects created with his wife Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon, Christo used some of the world's most iconic landmarks as his canvas.

One of his most famous was the wrapping of the Reichstag in Berlin in 1995 in a vast silvery curtain.

The German parliament was wrapped for two weeks by recycled material, in a work that was first planned in 1971, according to Christo's website.

The Wrapped Reichstag was first thought of in 1971 by Christo and his team, and finished the project in 1995.(Reuters: Lutz Schmidt)

Christo escaped from former-communist Bulgaria in 1957, first to Prague and then to Vienna and Geneva.

In 1960, he moved into a garage owned by an artist friend of his, hidden away in an industrial site.

The garage, which now became his studio, was next to a recycling dump, which housed used oil drums.

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This is where he was able to create the pieces of art he wanted, according to an Instagram post published in April.

"The studio made it possible for Christo to create large-scale works for the first time," the post read.

However, this would not be the last time Christo would seek inspiration from oil drums and barrels.

The London Mastaba, was a major project which was on display in the heart of London during the Summer of 2018.

Presented in June of that year, The London Mastaba was temporarily displayed in London's Hyde Park, floating on Serpentine Lake.

The piece was a 20-metre-high sculpture of an ancient Egyptian tomb, made from 7,506 red, white and mauve barrels put on a platform in a lake in the park.

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The Floating Piers, was another temporary work which allowed visitors to northern Italy's, Lake Iseo, to walk on water.

The floating fabric was 3 kilometres long, and was free for tourists to walk on.

Christo walks on his installation 'The Floating Piers' on the Lake Iseo, in northern Italy, which was free to the public.(AP: Luca Bruno)

Christo was preparing his latest art piece in Paris.

His latest project envisioned wrapping the Arc de Triomphe in Paris in 25,000 square metres of recyclable polypropylene fabric in silvery blue and 7,000 metres of red rope.

"Christo and Jeanne-Claude have always made clear that their artworks in progress be continued after their deaths. Per Christo's wishes, L'Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped in Paris, France, is still on track for September 18 to October 3, 2021," a statement from his office said.

Christo's Instagram page showed a number of preliminary plans for the project.

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Following his death, Christo's office released a statement about the importance art had to not only him, but his wife who died in 2009.

"Christo lived his life to the fullest, not only dreaming up what seemed impossible but realising it," the office of the artist, born Christo Yavacheff, said in a statement.

"Christo and Jeanne-Claude's artwork brought people together in shared experiences across the globe, and their work lives on in our hearts and memories.

"In a 1958 letter Christo wrote, 'Beauty, science and art will always triumph.' We hold those words closely today."

ABC/AP

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2020-06-01 05:07:00Z
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