London's Saatchi Gallery celebrates the vision and legacy of Christo and Jeanne-Claude

euronews (in English)

London’s Saatchi Gallery is hosting two new winter exhibitions. 'Boundless' is a retrospective dedicated to the late artistic duo Christo and Jeanne-Claude, while 'If Not Now, When?' explores the theme of time and the urgency around climate change.

Transcript

00:00 (upbeat music)

00:02 Hello and welcome to London's Saatchi Gallery

00:10 where we're taking a look at two new winter exhibitions.

00:14 One dedicated to an artistic duo

00:16 who've made a mark on a grand scale.

00:19 The other, a celebration of female sculptors.

00:28 Boundless is a retrospective tracing the creativity

00:31 of late life partners and artistic collaborators,

00:35 Christo and Jeanne-Claude.

00:37 Among their works, they wrap landmarks in fabric,

00:41 including Germany's Reichstag.

00:43 Christo himself couldn't really tell

00:46 what drove him to starting to wrap,

00:49 but at some point he started to wrap small objects

00:52 and it became bigger and bigger

00:54 and then he left the gallery space or museum space

00:58 and went outside doing projects in the landscape

01:02 and the city for people to be confronted with the art.

01:06 In 2021, the 50 meter high Arc de Triomphe in Paris

01:11 was wrapped.

01:12 A dream of Christo and Jeanne-Claude

01:15 since renting a nearby apartment in the 1960s.

01:18 Neither of them lived to see this,

01:20 but their photographer did.

01:23 I wish they had the chance that they were there

01:28 at the day of the unveiling

01:31 because I'm sure they would have appreciated it very much.

01:36 And the couple's legacy continues to live on.

01:41 This, another of their artistic visions

01:43 that could still be realized.

01:45 Just behind me, you can see the master bar,

01:49 which was first originated as an idea back in the 1970s.

01:53 The idea is to be a big pyramid

01:55 constructed of stacked oil barrels.

01:57 Christo had a dream that it was gonna be bigger

01:59 than the pyramids of Giza.

02:00 Versace Gallery's other winter exhibition

02:06 showcases the works of almost 30 female sculptors.

02:10 If not now, when?

02:12 Explores the theme of time.

02:14 The urgency around big issues such as climate change

02:19 and natural resources is explored.

02:22 This exhibit coming from UK artist, Deborah Duffin.

02:25 She's particularly focusing on electrical components.

02:30 The resources that are really being mined

02:32 throughout the world to produce our IT gadgets

02:35 is just actually incomprehensible.

02:37 And draws attention really to the lightness of her work,

02:43 the sort of fragility of these resources.

02:46 If not now, when?

02:49 And Christo and Jean-Claude Boundless.

02:52 Run at London's Sarchy Gallery until the 22nd of January.

02:56 (upbeat music)

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