Christo and Jeanne Claude- The Gates

The Gates is a site specific artwork created in Central Park in New York City in February 2005. The piece consisted of 7500 16 foot high gates that stretched over 23 miles of footpaths throughout the park. Each gate has a large orange panel of fabric that hangs freely above the path.



Christo and Jeanne Claude met in Paris in 1958 and created large scale collaborative installations from the 1990s until 2009 when Jean Claude died. Their works include wrapping the Reichstag in fabric, Surrounded Islands in Miami, and Christo is currently continuing work on their project Over the River along the Arkansas river in Colorado.


The scale and public nature of Christo and Jeanne Claude's works have presented many obstacles throughout their career. Permits, funding, large scale manufacturing, and public oppostition have been a large part of the creation of these enormous pieces. Much of the funding for this work comes from the sale of Christo's preparatory drawings for the installation and they are all created without use of public funds. Christo and Jeanne Claude maintain they are also committed to minimizing the impact on local wildlife and the environment. Since these pieces are temporary, the installation themselves are never sold and are not created for profit.