Over the River, Project for Arkansas River, State of Colorado is on view at the Phillips Collection as part of the current exhibit documenting Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s upcoming environmental installation in Colorado. Image copyright the artist.

Arguably the most well-known husband and wife duo in today’s art world is Christo and Jeanne-Claude, the pair who wrapped the Reichstag and draped Central Park. They’re at it again, and this time, Colorado’s Arkansas River is the subject. While the environmental installation is not anticipated until at least 2012, the Phillips Collection‘s new exhibit Over the River is the first to highlight the work in progress.

DCist previewed the work on Monday in a tour led by the artists and their thirteen project assistants. Never leaving each other’s side, Christo and Jeanne-Claude were both friendly and quirky. While they welcomed photographs, Jeanne-Claude, with her rainbow red hair and shockingly pink lipstick, repeatedly insisted distance, stating “You’re too close. We are 73,” and “I don’t want to be seen from so close. Then, I look like a fish.”

While one could easily think that the artists don’t have any new tricks up their sleeves (Another wrapping project? Puhlease!), Christo denies repetitiveness stating, “We will never do the same things again…because physically we know how the project should be done.” For Christo and Jeanne-Claude, each project holds new challenges and explores new ideas. What remains constant is the interaction with the human and natural environment, the laborious approval process of public art, and the artists’ sheer persistence in the face of refusal.