The Gates

The Gates was a site-specific work of art by Bulgarian artist Christo Yavacheff and French artist Jeanne-Claude, known jointly as Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The artists installed 7,503 steel "gates" along 23 miles (37 km) of pathways in Central Park in New York City. From each gate hung a panel of deep saffron-colored nylon fabric. The exhibit ran from February 12 through February 27, 2005. In the books and other memorabilia distributed by the artists, the project is called The Gates, Central Park, New York, 1979–2005, alluding to the time that passed between the artists' initial proposal and its installation. The Gates was greeted with mixed reactions. Some people loved the work for brightening the bleak winter landscape and encouraging late-night pedestrian traffic in Central Park; others hated it, accusing the artists of defacing the landscape. It was seen as an obstruction to bicyclists, who felt that the gates could cause accidents, although cycling was not legal on those paths. The artists received a great deal of their nationwide fame as a frequent object of ridicule by David Letterman (television talk-show host), as well as by Keith Olbermann (television journalist), whose apartment was nearby.