Hexton Gallery Debuts Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Ephemeral Nature

Aspen’s Hexton Gallery commemorates Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s influence on environmental art.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude, “Valley Curtain,” Rifle, Colo., 1970-72.

Christo at the site of “Valley Curtain,” Rifle, Colo., 1972.

When Christo and Jeanne-Claude draped their monumental “Valley Curtain” across Rifle Gap above Highway-325 in Rifle, Colo., at 11AM on Aug. 10, 1972, a gale forced the crew to begin dismantling it only 28 hours later. The arresting International Orange nylon curtain, spanning over 200,000 square feet, billowed between the mountain slopes’ negative space in stark contrast to the valley’s rugged natural landscape. While “Valley Curtain” existed little more than a day—after nearly a year and a half from conception to completion—there’s an eternal quality to Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s land art that lives on in the mind’s eye.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude in their studio with preparatory works for “Valley Curtain” in New York City in 1970.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of “Valley Curtain,” Aspen’s Hexton Gallery is mounting Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Ephemeral Nature on Aug. 1 to kick off a yearlong curatorial program inspired by the pioneering husband-and-wife duo’s influence on environmental art. “Part of their genius was the ephemeral nature of the projects,” says Bob Chase, owner of Hexton Gallery. “They almost become bigger as a result.” The show will mark the first major gallery exhibition in collaboration with the Christo and Jeanne- Claude Foundation in the U.S. since Christo’s passing in May 2020. With a focus on six of their major American environmental art projects, both realized and unrealized, Hexton will showcase archival photographs and early conceptual drawings and collages, many of which have never before been seen by the public.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude, “Valley Curtain,” Rifle, Colo., 1970-72.

Jeanne-Claude working on plans

Two of these projects were sited in Colorado nearly equidistant from Aspen. In addition to “Valley Curtain,” “Over the River” was conceived in south-central Colorado and would have seen roughly 6 miles of luminous silver fabric panels suspended above the Arkansas River in eight distinct areas along a 42-mile stretch. Aft er 25 years, from 1992 to 2017, working with federal, state and local agencies, they hit a roadblock with a local group and it never came to fruition. “It’s a nice metaphor,” says Chase. “They worked on that project for decades and it didn’t happen, while other projects did happen. Hey, that’s life. When you dream at the level they dreamed and then try to execute, sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t. They had tenacity, though. They never gave up. It’s a great message for art to convey.”

The show will also exhibit smaller-scale wrapped objects—a practice Christo began in Paris as early as 1958, using resin-soaked canvas and semitransparent polyethylene, wrapping everything from cans and bottles to Jeanne-Claude’s shoes and their son’s stroller—from their private collection. One of the exhibit’s most personal pieces to Chase is a wrapped bouquet that Christo gave to Jeanne-Claude more than 35 years ago that remained in their private residence until his death. “Sometimes I have to pinch myself, to be the custodian of this piece of art history,” he says. “Th e bouquet is so intimate and romantic. It’s such a gesture of the partnership they had. We’re showing objects as close to the artists as possible.”

Jeanne-Claude during installation.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s work has always had an immediate, halting and awe-inspiring nature, whether it was the 28 hours that the “Valley Curtain” rippled across Colorado’s horizon 50 years ago or, most recently, the 16 days last fall that the Arc de Triomphe was wrapped in silver-blue fabric secured by red rope—lending the monument, by turns, an inflated, cartoonish silhouette and also voiding it against Paris’ gray skies. Social media was set ablaze by anyone fortunate (or savvy) enough to be in Paris at that time when society was emerging from its pandemic slumber and moving about the world more freely in public spaces once again.

Installation of “Valley Curtain.”

“At the gallery, we’re excited about works that can change our perception about the world around us,” says Chase. “Environmental art allows us to stop and look at the world differently. If we can do that, then maybe we can think of how the world can be improved.”

When musing on Colorado’s allure to Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Chase says, “We’re fortunate to live in a landscape that they chose to operate in.” 447 E. Cooper Ave.