Surrounded Islands (Project for Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami, Florida)

An extraordinary example of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's monumental projects, the present work was the first large-scale preparatory drawing created for Surrounded Islands (Project for Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami, Florida) executed by Christo in 1981. For twenty-one days in June of 1982, eleven islands in Miami's Biscayne Bay were covered in pink fabric extending from the shore to approximately two-hundred feet inland. As they have often done in their work, Christo and Jeanne-Claude successfully used an installation to utilize a unique natural environment that lets viewers interact in a novel way with a place they know well. The Project for Biscayne Bay brought the area's starkly beautiful island topography to the forefront, while simultaneously exploring Miami inhabitants' dual-life between land and water, and this is precisely what the large drawing of this memorable project refelects.
To be included in the forthcoming Christo Catalogue raisonné being prepared by Daniel Varenne, Geneva, under number 7599.