The leading authority for the Architecture & Design community
May 21, 2018
Text: Annie Block
Christo Lands in London With Floating Sculpture and Serpentine Gallery Exhibit
Christo’s drawings in pencil, charcoal, wax crayon, and enamel of The Mastaba (Project for London, Hyde Park, Serpentine Lake), on view June 18 to September 23. Photography by André Grossmann, courtesy of Christo.
Christo and the late Jeanne-Claude are famous for their large-scale public art installations. The Gates, for example, occupied 23 miles of pathways in New York’s Central Park. Lesser known is the couple’s shared birth date: June 13. This year, less than a week after his 83rd birthday, the unofficial summer of Christo in London begins. June 18 marks the debut of the temporary floating sculpture The Mastaba (Project for London, Hyde Park, Serpentine Lake), Christo’s first outdoor, public work in the U.K. A continuation of a similar installation the duo proposed in 1977 in the United Arab Emirates, it’s composed of 7,506 stacked steel barrels painted red, blue, white, and mauve—“royal colors,” according to Christo. Then on June 19, a few steps away on dry land, “Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Barrels and The Mastaba 1958–2018” opens at Serpentine Gallery.
A 2011 photograph captures Christo during the first scale model test at a proposed Abu Dhabi site for The Mastaba of Abu Dhabi (Project for United Arab Emirates). Photography by Wolfgang Volz, courtesy of Christo.A 1979 scale model of it in enamel, wood, sand, and cardboard. Wolfgang Volz, courtesy of Christo.ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: “Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Barrels and The Mastaba 1958–2018” opens at Serpentine Gallery on June 19. Photography by Jean-Dominique Lajoux.ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: “Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Barrels and The Mastaba 1958–2018” opens at Serpentine Gallery on June 19. Photography by Wolfgang Volz.ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Christo’s drawings in pencil, charcoal, wax crayon, and enamel of The Mastaba (Project for London, Hyde Park, Serpentine Lake), on view June 18 to September 23. Photography by André Grossmann, courtesy of Christo.The London Mastaba, Serpentine Lake, Hyde Park, 2016-18. Photography by Wolfgang Volz.The London Mastaba, Serpentine Lake, Hyde Park, 2016-18. Photography by Wolfgang Volz.
