Enamel paint on wood and plexiglass, with pegboard

218.5 x 120.5 x 9.5 cm

Green Show Window sees a life-size store show window with its glass panel covered in white enamel paint, and partially framed at the top of the glass with a pegboard. The show window was made with bulky waste items and scraps from demolished buildings, the size of which was inspired by the gigantic scale of New York’s architecture when Christo and his wife moved there from Paris in 1964. Extending Christo’s tradition of “wrapping” everyday objects, this work sees the artist’s investigation into obscuring the interior of an object rather than their outer shape, which dominated Christo’s previous works. Here, the viewer is unable to look into the show window and clearly see what is in store for them, unless they choose to make incredible effort at peering in through the numerous tiny holes of the pegboard. Even then, however, the viewer is unable to make a sufficiently good judgement of what lies behind, and Christo instils within the viewer a sense of unsatisfied voyeurism. Thus, the work denies the viewer of their engagement with such familiar routines.