Christo - Enhancing the Genre of Land Art

Christo and Jeanne-Claude met in October 1958, when he was commissioned to

paint a portrait of her mother, Pre cilda de Guillebon. Initially, Christo was
attracted to Jeanne-Claude's half-sister, Joyce. Jeanne-Claude was engaged to
Philippe Planchon. Shortly before her wedding, Jeanne-Claude became pregnant
by Christo. Although she married Planchon, Jeanne-Claude left him immediately
after their honeymoon. Christo and Jeanne-Claude's son, Cyril, was born 11 May
1960. Jeanne-Claude's parents were displeased with the relationship, particularly
because of Christo's refugee status, and temporarily estranged themselves from
their daughter.
In 1961, Christo and Jeanne-Claude covered barrels at the port of Cologne, their
first collaboration. In 1962, the couple tackled their first monumental
project, Rideau de Fer (Iron Curtain). Without consent of authorities and as a
statement against the Berlin Wall, they blocked off Rue Visconti, a small street
near the River Seine, with oil barrels. Jeanne-Claude stalled approaching police,
persuading them to allow the piece to stand for a few hours. Although he was
simultaneously holding his first exhibition at a gallery, it was the Visconti project
that made Christo and Jeanne-Claude known in Paris.
In February 1964, Christo and Jeanne-Claude arrived in New York City. After a
brief return to Europe, they settled in the United States in September of that year.
Although poor and lacking fluency in the English language, Christo displayed his
work in several galleries, including the well-known Castelli Gallery in New York
and Gallery Schmela in Du sseldorf, Germany. Christo began to create storefronts,
which he built to scale. Sale of the storefronts helped finance larger projects.
On all their projects since 1972 they worked exclusively with
photographer Wolfgang Volz. At least five of their major projects were subjects of
documentary films by Albert and David Maysles. Although, Jeanne-Claude and
Christo worked as creative equals on all of their art projects, only Christos name
appeared on the finished products. This was a conscious decision by both Jeanne-
Claude and Christo because of the prejudices against female artists in the art
world. Jeanne-Claude said, The decision to use only the name Christo was made
deliberately when we were young because it was difficult for one artist to be
established and we wanted to put all the chances on our side.[13] Therefore,
Jeanne-Claude took on the role as Christos manager in order to advance their
success. The pair did not reveal Jeanne-Claude as the second half in the creative
process until 1994.

Damien Hirst - The Enfant Terrible

British artist Damien Hirst has shocked and surprised the art world with his
unusual works, including glass displays of dead animals and medicine cabinet
sculptures.

A successful and controversial artist, Damien Hirst was born in Bristol, England,
on June 7, 1965. He emerged as a leading figure in the Young British Artists
movement in the late 1980s and 1990s. His works, which include dead animal
displays and spin-art paintings, have sold for exceptionally high prices. Hirst is
one of the wealthiest artists living today.

Hirst continues to be widely criticized by contemporary critics and artists who

feel his work is overrated and pretentious. For instance, after his diamond skull
(For the Love of God, 2007) failed to sell for its ?50 million asking price, British
artist Laura Keeble created an inexpensive replica and photographed it in the
trash outside London's White Cube gallery for a work she titled Forgotten
Something? Similarly, in 2009, Spanish artist Eugenio Merino displayed a
sculpture of Hirst in a glass case, shooting himself in the head, titled 4 The Love of
Go(l)d. Merino, actually a great admirer of Hirst, told The Guardian, "I thought
that, given that he thinks so much about money, his next work could be that he
shot himself. Like that the value of his work would increase dramatically.
Obviously, though, he would not be around to enjoy it." While Merino claims his
work is as much tribute as critique, critics have also lambasted Hirst's open
desire to cash in on his talent and extensive reliance on assistants in creating his
work, particularly his "spot paintings." He is candid about the fact that he did not
produce the majority of these paintings, once commenting to an interviewer,
"The best person who ever painted spots for me was Rachel [Howard]. She's
brilliant. Absolutely f***ing brilliant. The best spot painting you can have by me
is one painted by Rachel." His methods and subjects are controversial, but the
impact of Hirst's creativity as an artist, curator, and entrepreneur will likely be
felt within the art world for many years to come.