Sunday was a blustery and clear winter day - a perfect day to stroll through Central Park amidst the throngs of people and bright orange "gates." This is the first time I've seen (and touched) a Christo exhibit. I always associate the artist's name with a long line of fences on a beautiful hilly terrain. (When was that - the 70's?)
Christo has been planning this exhibit since 1979. He was turned down by the city, but eventually his persistence paid off. Today, and for several more days to come, we have The Gates in Central Park. A 23-mile path of orange gates zig-zagging through the entire park. The 16-day exhibit is expected to draw three million people and cost $21 million.
Reviews are mixed - but then again isn't Christo's work always questionable as "art"? Well, to me that trip to the park was art. What was artistic about it was the striking contrast of the bright orange patterns against a gorgeous blue sky on a wintery landscape. It just radiated happiness. Besides, anything this unique that draws this many people and smiles - heck how can it not be considered art?
The people really make this exhibit worthwhile. It was like kids in a candy store. I heard many different languages being spoken in the park that day and saw more cameras and poses than you'd see at a Japanese convention in Miami. And the smiles. There were lots and lots of smiles.
Essentially, I found this "work" to be a nice bright way to break up winter - something to remind us that spring and blossoming flowers are not too far off now.... And plus - how many more Christo exhibits will there be in my lifetime? This was a cool 'first' for me - and apparently for hundreds of thousands of other people from all over the world.
It's pretty neat living in a place that, to its inhabitants and some of the rest of the world, truly is the center of the universe.
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