Reconnect with Christos and Jeanne-Claude's monumental environmental installations, fall in love with the incredible crochet artist Olek known for her yarn bombing in public spaces, and welcome the emerging sculptor Donald Edwards and his wrapped junk warriors.
When I think of wrapped art, I immediately think of the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude.
The breathtaking wrapped Arc de Triomphe, we have all seen it, images in the media, on TV, or maybe even lucky enough to stand before this magnificent manifest designed by the artist couple.
The excitement of something wrapped deeply entwined with our feelings of expectation, the mystery, the question, finding in the hidden form clues to what may lie inside.
Just watching the glee in the eyes of someone unwrapping a gift, feeling this emotion together on different levels - it’s a wonderful thing.
It’s mesmerizing, incredibly unreal this version of the arc, so familiar and yet so different packed away under this silvery blueish glowing fabric.
I went online and rediscovered previous works of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, recalling the magic of these unbelievable achievements, all breathtaking.
Then I moved on to my favorite platform Instagram, using the # wrapped, and was instantly submerged once again into a sea of Christo and Jeanne-Claudes works.
As I probed on, I discovered some pretty impressive contemporary artists using wrapping techniques in their work.
My ultimate discovery is the incredibly talented Agata Oleksiak or better known as Olek.
Olek acclaimed fame for her yarn bombing interventions in public spaces.
A self-taught artist, Olek crochets moments so that they last forever, crochet a means to illustrates her thoughts to the public.
"I was sometimes called crochet Christo!" -Olek
„The Banana sculpture concluded the period of the ready-mades. The Wrapped L’arc The Triumph in its own spectacular way finalized the long run of interacting with public monuments. Art’s consciousnesses elevated itself to a new dimension. Are you awake to join us there? „ - Olek
Right away, I was entranced and intrigued when I explored her Instagram page.
I truly enjoyed her video in which she talks about herself and her work called "I Have Nothing To Declare Except My Genius".
When you listen closely and take time to tune in to her, what she has to say is brilliant, and I find her most stimulating, wise, and captivating.
„Sculpture has no limitation, its about stretching the canvas to feed the vision“ - Olek
I also want to mention the artist Donald Edwards, whom I also discovered on Instagram. His work does not take place in public spaces, yet the material he uses does.
Spending time in Provincetown and Baltimore, Donald Edwards has combed the streets and beaches for materials to create his artworks.
"I have been making pieces that involve wrapping for a while now. I have experimented with more dense wrapping, as well as just trying to wrap enough, to hold the things together that I want attached. They are both useful techniques. There is a meditative, relaxing feeling I get when I make work that is wrapped a lot." - Donald Edwards
Instead of adding to the waste stream Donald Edwards intends to make things out of old and discarded items, keeping them from being added to landfills and dumps.
This body of work is about reuse and working with the materials you can find for free.
"Using things that would have been trash if I did not give them another life" - Donald Edwards
A big thank you to the Press department from the Christo and Jeanne-Claude foundation. A very big thank you to the Queen of crochet Olek and also to the wonderful Donald Edwards for sharing with us!
