I have always been of two minds about Christo:
1- that the artwork is really cool
2- there is an inordinate amount of hype and self-promotion in this ‘artwork’

I got curious about his funding and financial gains from doing these huge scale projects. I found a couple of article that I would like to share. It does much to dispell thought #2 regarding boundless self-promotion.

“The fact that Christo and Jeanne-Claude pay for their projects with their own money is also an aesthetic decision, they want to work in total freedom, and is why they accept no sponsors, so that they can do: what they want, how they want, where they want, but of course, not always WHEN they want because it took them 24 years to get the permit for the Wrapped Reichstag, and ten years for The Pont Neuf Wrapped.
… There can be no money back on the expenses because they do not charge admission and they do not accept any commercial offers. The Christos have never received a cent for posters, postcards, books, films, etc. Most Artists receive grants, foundation money and produce commissioned works of art for an art patron — the Christos do not accept those. They have never accepted sponsorship of any kind, and they never will, because they value their freedom most of all. Also they never accept to create a work in collaboration with other artists, nor the ideas of others for the choice of a site for their work. The search for freedom is the reason why Christo escaped from his native country Bulgaria, at age 21, while it was under Communist rule. Christo and Jeanne-Claude will never allow any kind of “strings attached.” They refuse all commercial involvement — at any price. They refused a ONE Million dollar fee for a 60 second commercial on Japanese television, in 1988. The Christos have lived at the same address since 1964 when they emigrated to the USA — Christo’s studio is on the 5th floor — there is no elevator. This is their one and only home. Christo has never had an assistant. He works alone in his studio. He even does his own framing. Because the Christos work with so many hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people at the sites of projects, Christo’s studio is the only place where he can be by himself, so that he can create the drawings which show their ideas of what a temporary work of art will look like. ” from the Presidential Lecture Series at Stanford University

CNN’s comments on the financial gains for the city of New York from the Gates project:
“The city’s estimate of 90,000 additional visitors is based on attendance at other recent cultural events…But those numbers include New Yorkers — not just tourists — and officials don’t know what portion were from out of town, so the figures are difficult to compare.
More tourists, along with the money spent on the project itself, could generate $2.4 million in additional tax revenue for the city, according to the city’s economic development agency. ”

How ’bout that? This is simply a wonderful gesture (and piece of art) to a city and to every person who partakes via photos or any other way. I can now lay aside my concerns and just enjoy it. It really is pretty cool – check out the NY Times slide show:
(click to “SKIP THIS AD” skip the ad)

There are many more images and in-depth information on the project at the site of Wolfgang Volz, their official photographer.

Image by Christo, courtesy of Wolfgang Volz