The Mastaba by Christo and Jean-Claude

Artist duo Christo and Jean-Claude made a splash this summer with the “Floating Piers“, a temporary large-scale installation in Lake Iseo, Italy. From 18 June – 3 July, visitors from the world over flocked to the island of San Paolo, flooding social media with images of the golden causeway. But the instantly iconic spectacle isn’t the only new work by the Christo and his late partner/collaborator this summer, who are also presenting a sculptural installation at the Fondation Maeght in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, just outside Nice in the south of France. At nine meters high, 13 meters long, and 9 meters wide, the “Mastaba” is on view in the institution’s Giacometti courtyard until 27 November.

Christo and Jean-Claude are perhaps best known for their use of textiles, primarily as a means of “wrapping” buildings but also in terms of tracing pathways, as in the “Floating Piers” and the “Central Park Gates” (2005). Yet they have been using oil barrels as a kind of building material since 1961, with “Dockside Packages” in Cologne, and the “Wall of Oil Barrels” in Paris. The name “Mastaba” refers to the form itself — a kind of truncated trapezoidal pyramid — which harkens back to ancient burial structures.

Despite their visual differences, the “Mastaba” and the “Floating Piers” have similar origin stories. Both were originally conceived nearly 50 years ago, by Christo and Jean-Claude. Their shared practice spanned half a century until her unfortunate passing in 2009. In fact, the concept for the Mastaba dates back to the late 60’s, predating the original idea for the “Floating Piers” by a few years. As with the project at Lake Iseo, Christo eventually hopes to realize the original vision for a full-fledged, 150-meter tall “Mastaba” — made from over 400,00 oil barrels — in Abu Dhabi.

In the meantime, visitors can experience the “Mastaba” in Saint-Paul-de-Vence. The exhibition Christo and Jeanne-Claude also includes drawings, collages, photographs, and other documentation of the artists’ rigorous process. For more information, see the Maeght Foundation website.