Surrounded Islands, Project for Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami, Florida
Date1983
MediumCollage (Fabric sample, pencil, charcol, pastel, crayon, enamel paint, and aerial photograph)
DimensionsLeft panel: 28 1/4 x 22 in.; Right panel: 28 1/4 x 11 1/4 in.
ClassificationsMixed Media
Credit LineFriends Purchase Fund
Terms
Object number1984.1
DescriptionFor two weeks in 1983, the contours of eleven islands near Miami, Florida, were outlined with luminescent pink fabric that dramatically floated in the water. Christo, a Bulgarian native, and his wife and artistic partner Jeanne-Claude temporarily transformed the environment with his artwork. From wrapped buildings to miles of fabric fencing, their complex installations involve years of planning with government agencies and engineers. To finance their work, they sell studies like this collage. With photographs, these studies remain tangible records of the work of art long after the piece is dismantled. The Museum has mounted two exhibitions devoted to the work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The temporary is essential for these artists, who explain:
"You can say it is about displacement. Basically even today I am a displaced person, and that is why I make art that doesn't last…. I make very stimulating things. Unlike steel, or stone, or wood, the fabric catches the physicality of the wind, the sun. They are refreshing. And then they are quickly gone."
On View
Not on viewCollections
Christo [Javacheff] (1935-2020) and Jeanne-Claude (1935-2009)
2004
![Brush, George DeForest,Nancy, the Artist's Daughter [Mrs. Robert Pearmain],1947.01](/internal/media/dispatcher/14622/thumbnail)
