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SHOW CASES
Paris YearsIn 1963, making his way through a popular Parisian flea market, Christo stumbled upon a collection of medicine cabinets and small glass vitrines. Intrigued by their obscure charm, he acquired several and began reworking their dusty, tarnished insides. Having first lined them with rich silks and satins, the artist further experimented by adding internal lighting fixtures and, occasionally, jewelry pieces, also second hand. Enclosed with glass and semi-covering paper sheets affixed to their surfaces, the once discarded objects were reborn as the lucent Show Cases.
With these closed vitrines, their interiors decadent yet inaccessible, Christo reversed the object’s function, playing with the viewer’s desire to see and touch. The crucial feature of the Show Cases, was no longer the exterior or the vitrine’s outer shape, but rather, what was taking place inside; the potential presence of an unknown object behind the covering. Christo recalled in the interview given to Cahiers d’Art in May this year: « I think of that process as something that comes from a sort of “voyeuristic” idea. (…) You can’t see what’s behind the door, neither can you open the door, and it’s like you’re witnessing a change of status, a transformation that questions the meaning and the function (…)»
In a reversal of his previous works, the wrapping process in Show Cases was essentially turned inward -- as if to oppose the curious gaze of the onlooker, whose impulse is being converted into an experience of him/herself as a result of this artistic encounter. -
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SHOW WINDOWS & STORE FRONTS
New York YearsThe intimate sizes of the Show Cases are perhaps reflective of their Parisian origins; Christo’s move to New York in 1964 marked a shift in his practice to larger, more architectural dimensions. Impressed by the gigantic scale and the brusque nature of the Manhattan buildings, he began investigating the use of industrial materials as well as incorporating bulky waste items and scraps from demolished construction sites in his work. For his highly celebrated series Show Windows and Store Fronts, realized in New York, Christo and Jeanne-Claude would often start with an intervention. Working in situ, they would construct a facade for a gallery or other pedestrian-facing space that gave the air of a closed retail outlet due to the covered-up vitrines – at once referencing the aura of his newly-adopted home and the classic tropes of art history.
As Matthias Koddenberg observed in his essay for the latest Cahiers d’Art Revue:“These early facades with their patinated surfaces exuded the charming flair of the old and worn and appeared as a romantic tribute to New York’s past, although their anonymous look made no reference to the city. With their covered windows and locked doors, they turned their back on all those windows in art history – ranging from Jan Vermeer to Caspar David Friedrich – that had been depicted as sources of glistening light or had opened up an alluring vista of the world”.
Christo’s Show Windows and Store Fronts embody pioneering efforts to challenge the concept of a gallery space and to realise the idea of a work of art that would incorporate elements of time, light and specificity of place, in addition to the usual three space dimensions. -
CHRISTO: LA REVUE
2020 -
Cahiers D’Art Revue - 44th Year (EN), 2020
This special issue of the Cahiers d'Art Revue dedicated to Christo offers a selection of never- or rarely-seen before works. Christo opened the doors to his New York studio, situated on 48 Howard Street. The Revue includes texts by Matthias Koddenberg, Ingrid D. Rowland, Lorenza Giovanelli and Bernard Blistène, as well as the last interview given by the artist to Hans Ulrich Obrist and Staffan Ahrenberg, May 22, 2020, nine days before his passing. Christo created the cover especially for Cahiers d'Art. -
HOMMAGE À L'ÉTRANGER (2020)
CHRISTO x CAHIERS D'ART -
‘Hommage à l’Etranger’ is a series of 9 original handprints from Christo. Each of them unique and with visible fingerprints, they are the very last works from the artist but also his ultimate signature. Visceral, in ochre hues, created with oil directly on cardboard paper, they represent the very act of painting.
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CHRISTO: SHOW CASES, SHOW WINDOWS AND STORE FRONTS: 1963 - 1966: On view now at Cahiers d'Art in 14 & 15 Rue du Dragon, 75006 Paris
Current viewing_room
