CHRISTO

born June 13, 1935, Gabrovo, Bulg. in full Christo Javacheff environmental sculptor, noted for his controversial outdoor sculptures and displays of fabrics and plastics. Christo attended the Fine Arts Academy in Sofia, Bulg., and had begun working with the Burian Theatre in Prague when the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 broke out. He fled to Vienna, where he studied for a semester, and then, after a brief stay in Switzerland, moved to Paris and began exhibiting his works with the nouveaux ralistes. In 1964 he relocated to New York City, where his art was seen as a form of Art Povera. Christo's earliest sculptures were composed of cans and bottles, some as found, some painted or wrapped in paper, plastic, or fabric. The first larger works included "Dockside Packages" (1961; Cologne), "Iron Curtain-Wall of Oil Drums" (1962; Paris), and "Corridor Store Front" (1968; New York City). In the latter year he also completed a suspended 18,375-foot (5,600-metre) "air package" over Minneapolis, Minn., and "wrapped buildings" in Bern, Chicago, and Spoleto, Italy. His monumental later projects included "Valley Curtain" (1972; Rifle Gap, Colo.), "Running Fence" (1976; Marin and Sonoma counties, Calif.), and "Surrounded Islands" (1983; Biscayne Bay, Fla.). In 1985 in Paris, he wrapped the Pont Neuf (bridge) in beige cloth. In 1991 he created a display of umbrellas in the Japanese and California countrysides. In 1995 he wrapped the Reichstag in Berlin in metallic silver fabric. Christo's huge, usually outdoor sculptures are temporary, involve hundreds of assistants in their construction, are seen by viewers who would not necessarily visit museums, and force observers to reformulate their own aesthetics and views on the nature of art. His work is controversial, especially among environmentalists, but has for the most part been critically well received.