Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s saffron-draped ‘Gates of Central Park’ may have been taken down weeks ago, but the national interest generated by the massive public art project has lived on, spawning several spoofs, a few serious imitators, and an exhibit of photographs of the display. “The criticism that the aesthetic quality of ‘The Gates’ didn’t hold up compared with earlier Christo/Jeanne-Claude works doesn’t seem to take into account a shift in focus that the artists began developing in the late 1970s or early 1980s,” and such criticism certainly didn’t hurt the installation in the eyes of much of the public. “By the participatory measure, “The Gates” was a success, both in terms of the estimated 4 million visitors it attracted and the continuing activity it’s spawned.”