Guest Author - Brenda Potter Reynolds

A temporary work of art by New York artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude has drawn record numbers to Central Park in New York City. As of February 16, over one million people had visited the park to see The Gates. The exhibit consists of panels of fabric creating 7,500 gates along 23 of Central Park’s 58 miles of paved pathways.

Christo Vladimirov Javacheff was born in Gabrovo, Bulgaria, and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon was born in Casablanca, Morocco. Remarkably, both were born on June 13, 1935, within the same hour. The couple has lived in New York City since 1964. They have one child, the poet Cyril Christo.

The couple have created many other works of art, including Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin, 1971-95; The Pont Neuf Wrapped, Paris, 1975-85; and Surrounded Islands, Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami, Florida, 1980-83. Some of these projects can be seen at Wolfgang Volz.

The Gates is on display throughout Central Park from 59th to 110th Streets through Sunday, February 27, 2005.

The Gates is entirely funded by the artists. Christo and Jeanne-Claude have donated the merchandising rights to the charitable foundation Nurture New York’s Nature and the Arts (a nonprofit supporting arts and the environment). NNYN will share the proceeds with The Central Park Conservancy.



To see photos of the exhibit visit: Christo and Jeanne-Claude.

There's an informational fact sheet: NYC.

To download a guide to the exhibit, visit Guide

To download a map to the exhibit, visit Map.

To take a virtual tour of the exhibit, go to Virtual Tour.

To see a webcam of the exhibit, go to Webcam.

The Gates online store: The Gates Online Store.