The Gates Central Park, NYC, NY
Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Last night HBO premiered the documentary The Gates, the large scale art project designed by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. I first became aware of this couple when they surrounded 11 islands in Miami's Biscayne Bay with 603,850 square meters of pink polypropylene in 1983. This show is not about the creative process of designing The Gates, but about the bureaucracy and the hoops they had to jump through before the project came to fruition. There are beautiful quiet scenes of Central Park, people sledding, geese flying, a woman on a cell phone telling someone to "come and see" the installation of The Gates, others expressing their disgust for the project and moments of wonder that happen in this wonderful park.

HBO synopsis: In 1979, the provocative artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude approached New York City officials with a proposal to create a temporary, large-scale work of art in Central Park. The city turned them down. Twenty-four years and several administrations later, following dozens of high-concept, high-profile works of landscape art in numerous urban and rural locations around the globe, they finally got the city's approval to complete their vision. THE GATES chronicles the decades-long struggle of Christo and Jeanne-Claude to bring their most ambitious work of art to life.

Go to the The Gates home page at HBO for the schedule of show times and dates.

http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/thegates/index.html
http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/