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A ‘revelation through concealment’
MIK SABIERS enjoys a book that documents the last project of two artists who mesmerised the public on a grand scale but never succumbed to commercialisation
NEARLY THERE: Ropes are being installed to secure and contour the fabric on the Arc de Triomphe on September 13, 2021 [Lubri]

L’Arc de Triomphe, WRAPPED
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Taschen, £20

 

JUST 16 days in situ, but 60 years in the making, this book charts the creation and construction of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s L’Arc de Triomphe, WRAPPED, although it doesn’t actually feature the final exhibit in all its glory.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude were known for wrapping, enveloping and engaging with open spaces, large installations and oil barrels (London Serpentine i 2018), but primarily their art was about fabric, textiles and temporary materials interacting with the environment.

Born on the same day in 1935, the pair met and married in Paris in the late 1950s and embarked on a career symbolised by art crossed with large scale landmarks and landscapes.

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