in online exhibition 55 Years of Schellmann Art
Wrapped Payphone, 1988
New York payphone (steel), wrapped in canvas, polyethylene, rope. 58 x 24.5 x 23.5 cm (23 x 10 x 9 in). Edition of 30, signed and numbered.
Created in 1988, this edition incorporates Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s signature approach of concealing familiar objects, stripping them of their utility and prompting viewers to see the everyday anew. While they are best known for their large-scale installations wrapping public buildings and monuments, in this work, the artist duo applied their distinctive style to a smaller public institution and cultural symbol of the 1980s – the now nearly obsolete payphone.
