International Artist Christo to Visit Southern Miss

Internationally acclaimed artist Christo will visit the University of Southern Mississippi's Hattiesburg campus Sept. 5 to present the lecture, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Two Works in Progress: Over the River, Project for the Arkansas River, Colorado, andThe Mastaba, Project for the United Arab Emirates. This event begins at 7 p.m. in Bennett Auditorium and is free and open to the public.

“This is an opportunity to meet an internationally-acclaimed artist who has created his highly recognized work around the world for over half a century,” said John House, chairman of the Southern Miss Department of Art and Design.

Christo's presentation also kicks off the Southern Miss Honors College's fall University Forum, in cooperation with the university's College of Arts and Letters. “We're pleased to have such a talented artist as Christo as our first presenter for the fall 2012 University Forum,” said Dr. David R. Davies, dean of the Honors College. “His visit to campus is much anticipated.”

For more than 40 years, Christo and Jeanne-Claude have created highly celebrated works of art around the globe. They are known for large scale projects in which they have made short-term, reversible interventions in cityscapes and landscapes throughout the world. One of their most recent projects, The Gates, Central Park, New York City, 1979-2005 drew millions of visitors to Manhattan's Central Park during the 16 days of the project's installation.

Jeanne-Claude passed away in November 2009, but Christo continues with their work on Over The River andThe Mastaba, as well as other projects. Christo and Jeanne-Claude have never accepted any subsidies, royalties, grants, or sponsorships. They fund all of their temporary public works, and Christo derives the artists' income from the sale of original works of art to museums, galleries and private collectors.

Christo will also be at the Lauren Rogers Museum in Laurel, Miss. on Sept. 4 to speak about the exhibit the museum is featuring, “Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Prints and Objects,” running now through Oct. 6. For information on this event, call the museum at 601.649-6374 or online, visit http://lrma.org/.

For more information about the work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, online visit www.christojeanneclaude.net. For more information about Christo's visit to Southern Miss, call the Department of Art and Design at 601.266.4972 or the Honors College at 601.266.4533.