as we say goodbye to 2021, we take a look at some of the most exciting art installations presented this year. despite the difficulties posed by COVID-19, this year came with plenty of exciting artwork unveilings, ranging from christo’s ephemeral art installation in paris, which saw the arc de triomphe wrapped in a silvery blue fabric, to olafur eliasson’s green water installation at fondation beyeler.

CHRISTO WRAPS PARIS’ARC DE TRIOMPHE IN RECYCLABLE SILVERY BLUE FABRIC

image by wolfgang volz © 2021 christo and jeanne-claude foundation (also header image)

christo’s dream of wrapping the arc de triomphe became a reality in 2021. from september 18 until october 3, paris saw the french monument draped in 25,000 square meters of recyclable polypropylene fabric.‘l’arc de triomphe, wrapped’is said to be the greatest work of public art worldwide in 2021, and was funded entirely by the artist’s foundation through the sale of his preparatory studies, drawings and collages of the project as well as scale models, works from the 1950s and 1960s and original lithographs on other subjects. 

 

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CHIHARU SHIOTA’S IMMERSIVE THREAD INSTALLATION, SET WITHIN A FORMER CHURCH IN BERLIN

image by sunhi mang © VG bild-kunst, bonn, 2021 and the artist

‘I hope…’by chiharu shiota is an immersive thread installation currently on display in the nave of st. agnes – a monumental former church that now serves as könig galerie’s exhibition space in berlin. the large-scale piece gathers 10.000 letters sent to the artist from across the globe, which came in response to her invitation to people to write down their hopes. printed on red paper, the letters are attached to millions of lines of red thread that interconnect them, while metal boat frames are suspended in between.‘I hope…’links back to shiota’s‘the key in hand’installation, an immersive labyrinth of keys and yarn set inside the japan pavilion during the 56th venice biennale (previous coverage here).

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JR SPLITS THE EARTH BENEATH THE EIFFEL TOWER TO FORM EPIC, URBAN-SCALE ARTWORK IN PARIS

image via JR

in another parisian installation, JR splits the earth beneath the eiffel tower in two to reveal a cavernous subterranean city below. the french artist has devised the installation to perfectly align with the architecture of the eiffel tower when viewed from a specific vantage point. from here, the tower’s legs appear to transform into a natural rock formation, from which emerges an enormous, cavernous void. 

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image by mark niedermann

basel’s fondation beyeler hosted the first site-specific installation in switzerland by world-renowned artist olafur eliasson. titled‘life’, the show intertwines the museum, its surrounding park, the urban landscape and nature in such way that it presents itself as a piece that constantly evolves to generate a dialogue between these coexisting spheres while rejecting the separation between culture and nature.

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