This week, through April 19, Christo is presenting Paris with a must-see installation entitled l’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped (Project for Paris, Place de l’Étoile-Charles de Gaulle). Most notably known for his experiential, temporary installations, the artist is once again presenting the public something they must enjoy now, as the installation is only one view for 14 days and off view this Friday. For the rest of the week, the famous arch will be wrapped in approximately 269,098 square feet of silver-blue recyclable polypropylene fabric and 7,5347 feet of red rope.
The new piece coincides with a major exhibition at the Centre Georges Pompidou now open through June 15, 2020, which retraces Christo and his late wife Jeanne-Claude’s years in Paris from 1958 to 1964. The exhibition centers in on 1961—three years after they met in Paris, when the couple began creating public works of art. In 1962, Christo imagined wrapping the monument and made a study of it through a photomontage, seen from the Avenue Foch. And through the 1970s and ‘80s, he created additional studies, mapping out this exact work of art. Nearly 60 years later, the work is realized.
“The exhibition at the Centre Pompidou will reveal the historical context of the period during which we lived and worked in Paris,” said Christo. “Thirty-five years after Jeanne-Claude and I wrapped the Pont-Neufm I am eager to work in Paris again to realize our project for the Arc de Triomphe.”
