Christo and Jeanne-Claude shared a birthday: June 13, 1935. The couple were collaborators to such a degree that we know them by their first names, paired together like a multisyllabic stage name. Starting this month, the late artists are being recognized in two ways for what would be their 90th birthday: A meticulous retrospective is being mounted at the Museum Wrth in Knzelsau, Germany and The Shed in New York will be the host of a multiplatform retrospective specifically looking at the duos landmark Central Park showcase, The Gates, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Christo and Jeanne-Claude at The Gates in New York City, February 2005 (Wolfgang Volz 2005 Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation)These two exhibitions are fuel enough to revisit the legacy and architectural leanings of the iconic artists. The Wrths Wrapped, tied, stacked. Christo and Jeanne-Claude displays the extensive collection of works by the artists owned by longtime collaborator and friend Reinhold Wrth. More than 120 pieces of process-oriented ephemera will be on display. While these arent the same vein as the monumental public works we know and love, it shows the thinking and meticulous planning the artists executed behind the scenesoften for decades before full realizationthat takes on an architectural scale. Collages, photographs, sketches, scale models, and videos are just some of the media to expect at the show, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the creative gestation that architects definitely love.Lower Manhattan Packed Building (Project) 20 Exchange Place scale model (1964). Property of the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation. (Andr Grossmann 1964 Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation)Sylvia Weber, director of the Wrth Collection and joint curator along with Kirsten Fiege, said that Christo and Jeanne-Claude undoubtedly shifted the dimension of what had been conceivable as a work of art. The second skin he put over the objects triggers our imagination.Installation view of Wrapped, tied, stacked. Christo and Jeanne-Claude at Museum Wrth. (Ufuk Arslan)Perhaps best-known for their wrapping of landmarksthe Pont Neuf (1985) and Arc de Triomphe (2021) to name just twoChristos oeuvre is unique for its architectural sensibility; for taking an existing piece and allowing the public to see it anew. As the New York Times wrote in Christos obituary, he generated no small measure of happiness and awe. That palpable joy is a thread running through each work, and undoubtably for those here in the U.S. familiar with the 2005 installation in Central Park, The Gates. Marking 20 years since the groundbreaking work, the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation is collaborating on a multiplatform exhibition titled Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Gates and Unrealized Projects for New York City. A collaboration between The Shed, Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Central Park Conservancy, and NYC Parks will include a gallery exhibition at The Shed as well as an AR app-based experience in Central Park where users can recreate gates as they traverse the park, and learn more about the work through the Bloomberg Connects app.Sketch in advance of The Gates, 2002. Property of the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation (Andr Grossmann 2002 Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation)The gates in question were designed by Christo and Jeanne-Claude at an architectural scale, with an architectural purpose: 7,503 saffron-colored gates were created by securing poles to the parks sidewalks and hanging saffron-colored fabric between them. The energetic color cut through the wintery mix that descends upon the park each February in New York, albeit for the shortest possible window of time: the installation was up for a mere 16 days. Even after 20 years, the unforgettable visual memory of Christo and Jeanne-Claudes The Gates is still in the minds of the many people who experienced it in person or viewed it from afar, said Vladimir Yavachev, Christo and Jeanne-Claudes director of projects and Christos nephew. Credited with revolutionizing New York Citys relationship with participatory and community-based art and igniting dialogue about the importance of public art globally, The Gates captured the imagination of millions and helped revive a city that had been transformed by the tragedy of 9/11 four years earlier.The Gates installation photography in Central Park, New York City, 2005. (Wolfgang Volz 2005 Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation)What stands out to this critic when reflecting on Christo and Jeanne-Claudes oeuvre, however, isnt only the work of wrapping or activating itself: its also the ethos and politics behind the decisions of where and what to wrap. Christo was born into Soviet Bulgaria and never let his anti-fascist views shake. He and his wife staunchly vetoed private funding of their works: I came from a Communist country, Christo told the New York Times. I use my own money and my own work and my own plans because I like to be totally free. This stance in an art and design world increasingly reliant on public-private partnerships, brand sponsorshipsas well as censorshipreads like a breath of fresh air. Christo and Jeanne-Claude really walked the walk. A famous example of this ethos occurred in 2017, when the couple was readying to culminate a decades-long project to bridge the Arkansas River in the mountains of Colorado with signature a fabric canopy. Christo walked away from the work at the 11th hour after he realized the land was federally ownedmaking Donald Trump his landlord. The sunk cost of millions of his own dollars didnt matter to him. His work reflected his beliefs, making this project incongruent.Press Conference by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announcing the realization of The Gates in New York City, January 22, 2003 (Wolfgang Volz 2003 Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation)My uncle always told me that if you are accountable to anyone, you dont have freedom, said Yavachev. Remember, in art school in communist Bulgaria, he was criticized by the authorities because the peasants in his painting did not look happy enough! That was too much for him. At every turn, even at the height of his practicing fame, Christo was embattled by bureaucratic processes hindering his large-scale dreams. Unlike a painter responsible for a single canvas or a musician recording a single song, Christos work hinged on high-visibility, public access, and government collaboration to achieve the scale he desired. Despite these hinderances, he never bowed to the expectations of the institution nor amended his ethics to complete a project. He was persistent, unrushed, and visionary.Fragment of the oil barrel mockup used to create Christos Mastaba visions, on view at the Museum Wrth. (Ufuk Arslan)Early image of The Gates AR Experience to be available in Central Park through the Bloomberg Connects app in February 2025 ( 2025 Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation)Christo and Jeanne-Claudes final work is set to be the Mastaba in the Liwa desert outside Abu Dhabi. The couple first visited the site in the 1970s, documented by a series of playful photographs, scale models, and countless drawings of the awe-inspiring mass and scale of the proposed work. Christo worked with Emirates officials directly to select the site and collaborated with ETH Zurich professors on feasibility studies to stack and secure a permanent artwork of hundreds of thousands of oil barrels. While this vision is yet to be realized, the optimism is clear on the Foundations website. If we live to see the day this posthumous work comes to life, surely the world could be a better place with a permanent monument to Christo and Jeanne-Claudeor maybe their ephemeral works are meant to live only in our memory.