RIP Jeanne-Claude, brilliant artist

As many will remember, The Gates in NYC’s Central Park was done by Christo and Jeanne-Claude.  For some time their collaborative projects were labeled as if by him alone.  For some information about the change, see below.   

We  note that it is a familiar idea that women’s brilliance can be hidden  behind a man’s name.  And that in the past it may have made great sense to her.

Jeanne-Claude, who collaborated with her husband, Christo, on dozens of environmental arts projects, notably the wrapping of the Pont Neuf in Paris and the Reichstag in Berlin and the installation of 7,503 vinyl gates with saffron-colored nylon panels in Central Park, died Thursday in Manhattan, where she lived. She was 74

Jeanne-Claude met her husband, Christo Javacheff, in Paris in 1958. …  To avoid confusing dealers and the public, and to establish an artistic brand, they used only Christo’s name. In 1994 they retroactively applied the joint name “Christo and Jeanne-Claude” to all outdoor works and large-scale temporary indoor installations. Other indoor work was credited to Christo alone.

Texas law bans anything “identical to” marriage. (Oops.)

I’m in lefty pedantic philosopher heaven:

Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Houston lawyer and Democratic candidate for attorney general, says that a 22-word clause in a 2005 constitutional amendment designed to ban gay marriages erroneously endangers the legal status of all marriages in the state.

The amendment, approved by the Legislature and overwhelmingly ratified by voters, declares that “marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman.” But the troublemaking phrase, as Radnofsky sees it, is Subsection B, which declares:

“This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage.”

For more, see here. (Thank you, Jender-Mom!!)