Christo, the artist who famously wrapped the Reichstag in Berlin, suspended a curtain across a Colorado valley, and covered the Pont Neuf in Paris, left behind a visionary project that is now being brought to life six years after his death. A London gallery will create a monumental installation originally designed in 1968, using a detailed scale model and drawings that were presumed lost until their chance discovery.
Discovery of the Lost Model
The original plans for Air Package on a Ceiling were uncovered by Lorenza Giovanelli, who joined Christo’s team in 2017 as his studio manager. While reorganizing the studio, she moved a large plinth and noticed a box hidden inside. To her astonishment, it contained a detailed scale model of the installation, complete with electrical wiring to simulate its internal lighting. The discovery in 2018 was kept secret, and Christo passed away in 2020. Giovanelli recalled his excitement upon finding the model, as he had long forgotten placing it there. “It’s in such great condition because it’s never seen the sunlight. It was not even dusty … It’s been hidden for 50 years,” she said.
The Installation
Air Package on a Ceiling was originally conceived for the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia but was never realized due to technical constraints. Now, the first realization will fill a vast exhibition space at Gagosian London, measuring 16 meters long and 10 meters wide, descending to just above head height. Serena Cattaneo Adorno, a senior director at Gagosian, described the piece as “both architectural and atmospheric, it compels visitors to move beneath and around it.” She added, “This exhibition brings a work into being that has existed for decades only as an idea. The gesture of wrapping is one of the most radical aspects of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s practice; here, it is applied to air and architectural surface – a distillation of their thinking to its purest form.”
A Vision of a Cloud
Giovanelli explained, “It will look like a beautiful cloud, lit from within, hanging from the ceiling of the gallery space … It will be very magical … I’ve imagined this many times. So I am really impatient to see it. I believe people will really find it extremely beautiful.” The work continues Christo’s exploration of wrapping air, which he began in the 1960s with sealed transparent polyethylene packages bound with rope, foreshadowing his later environmental-scale works.
Exhibition Details
The Gagosian exhibition will also include various works on the theme of air – “invisible, intangible and essential.” Vladimir Yavachev, Christo’s nephew and close collaborator, noted the precision of the drawings and scale model, saying, “They’re very precise drawings … and the scale model has all the information in it … You can look at every detail. It’s there.” He confirmed that the final installation will faithfully recreate Christo’s vision. The exhibition runs from 21 May to 21 August at Gagosian London, 20 Grosvenor Hill, W1.
