CHRISTO

—Christo

BASEL, August 10, 2023—Gagosian is pleased to announce an exhibition of sculptures and workson paper by Christo at the gallery in Basel. Selected Works, which is presented as part of KunsttageBasel, marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s last project in the city in1998, when they wrapped 178 trees around the Fondation Beyeler in 55,000 square meters of wovenpolyester fabric.

Renowned for their monumental temporary works, artistic collaborators Christo and Jeanne-Claudeeffectively redefined the relationship between art and public space, expanding the possibilities ofscale and transforming familiar landscapes. Often requiring extensive planning and negotiation, theseself-funded projects existed only for brief periods, after which their materials were repurposed or recycled, and the sites restored to their original state. Selected Works presents an opportunity to revisita unique canon of creative endeavors that transcends the conventional boundaries of sculpture andarchitecture.

The exhibition features the early sculptures Store Front, Project (1964) and Store Front Corner (1965), both from the Store Fronts series (1964–68), in which Christo made use of salvaged architectural elements resembling shop windows, lining their glass panels with paper or fabric to obstruct the view inside. Complementing these works in Basel is Show Case (Vitrine), a related sculpture from 1963 that employs a tall painted metal vitrine on casters, its interior similarly veiled by hanging white fabric and illuminated by electric light. Preceding the artists’ public projects, these foundational works find Christo already responding creatively to the everyday built environment.

Also on view are several studies for Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s renowned site-specific artworks.Featuring detailed original drawings in charcoal, enamel, pastel, pencil, and wax crayon, thesehighly evocative works often incorporate additional elements such as photographs, fabric samples,handwritten notes, and topographic maps to convey a range of technical information, therebycombining preparatory, documentary, and expressive functions. Several of the examples on displayhave been featured in major museum exhibitions.

Works on paper on view in Basel include Wrapped Reichstag (Project for Berlin) (1987) and twodrawings titled Running Fence (Project for Sonoma County and Marin County, State of California),one from 1974, the other from 1976—the latter pair representing a temporary project on which LarryGagosian worked as a construction assistant in 1976. The Floating Piers (Project for Lake lseo, Italy),a large drawing from 2015, plots one of Christo’s final public undertakings, a 3-kilometer (1.9-mile)walkway that attracted more than 1.2 million visitors over its sixteen-day run in 2016.