NEW YORK, NY.- To highlight the groundbreaking nature of Yves Klein’s monumental FC 1 (Fire Color 1) to be offered at Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary sale on May 8, 2012, Christie’s has introduced an innovative tool to its marketing campaign. Christie’s has commissioned award-winning filmmaker Laurent Chanez to make an evocative three-minute video celebrating the creation of the masterpiece - in effect, an artwork in its own right. Chanez has taken historic footage of Klein creating the work in 1962, using pigment-covered nude models and a hose of blazing fire as his “brushes”, and interspersed it with his own elemental imagery and composer Christian Zanesi’s abstract soundtrack to draw viewers into Klein’s unforgettably dramatic process of realizing this singular painting. It is standard practice to exhibit artworks before a sale but a groundbreaking departure to spark the interest of collectors and art lovers by commissioning a video. Chanez’s video, made through the New York production house Identity, is now available for viewing Christie’s – Yves Klein FC1.

“I was immediately seduced and deeply affected by FC1. The work, which presents itself as a major masterpiece at first glance, awakened in me a staggering number of visions such as images-cave paintings, earthy elements, the ghostly nuclear shadows of Hiroshima- which guided me in the creation of this film. By interspersing this diverse imagery with the creation of the masterwork and flashes of the completed piece, i have attempted to make Klein's piece come to life for the viewer.” analyzed Laurent Chanez, film director.

“Yves Klein’s FC 1 is his ultimate heroic work, fusing all of the elements that Klein mastered over his short and intense career,” stated Loic Gouzer, International Specialist, Post-War and Contemporary Art. “We thought we had to do something unique to pay tribute to Yves Klein, this uncanny alchemist who was not afraid in his art to manipulate fire, earth, air, water and the quintessence of human life itself. Commissioning Laurent Chanez was an outstanding way to release the dazzling power of FC 1 for today’s viewers, 50 years after the conception of this fantastic work.”

A native of France, Laurent Chanez studied at the ESAG Penninghen (Ecole Supérieure d’Arts Graphiques) in Paris and after graduation became an art director and graphic designer. He moved to Los Angeles in 1996 to work with The New York Times, MTV, Nike and Ford. In 1999, Laurent began directing short films, the first of which, Forme, was an official selection of the Buenos Aires Film Festival and the Pantin-Paris Film Festival, among others. A subsequent short film, GRM 14, was made for the Présences électronique festival at La Maison de la Radio in Paris.

Working for both the European and American markets, Chanez has won several awards for his commercials for Tommy Hilfiger Fragrances (featuring Beyoncé) and Kenzo. His latest work for the Benetton “Unhate” campaign was featured at this year’s TED conference.