Something in the neighborhood of twenty years ago, I was in my high school Independent Study in Art class, and my teacher started talking about this con man called Christo, who would wrap things in fabric and call them art.
Years later, I’m reading about a horrible accident that happened today in 1991:
33-year-old insurance agent Lori Keevil-Matthews visits an outdoor art project installed by Christo. 1,760 yellow umbrellas were scattered along the ridge line of the Tejon Pass, near Interstate 5 in Southern California. Then a freak 40 mph gust suddenly picks up a 485-pound umbrella, slamming the spectator against a boulder. She dies on the scene.
I decide to go check out what this Christo is all about, and presto, I find his website, replete with a gallery of some of his work. I start to look at this stuff, and suddenly it hits me – I like it. It’s not a painting, or a sculpture, or anything like that. It’s more than that. It’s of a scale that most people wouldn’t attempt, and is executed with a certain sense of style that really takes one’s breath away. I can almost imagine going to see one of these projects, perhaps on a day that’s not windy, and taking in the sheer breadth and scope of what Christo and Jeanne-Claude are able to accomplish.
So, after years of thinking that this man was the con artist of the art world, I must now change my opinion and declare that I believe him to be a man who has crafted some very beautiful landscapes, which is something he should be darn proud of.
