{{short description|Environmental artwork}} thumb|Surrounded Islands {{Use American English|date=June 2020}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2020}}

'''''Surrounded Islands, Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami, Florida, 1980–83''''' was a 1983 environmental artwork in which artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude surrounded an island archipelago in Miami with pink fabric.

== Planning ==

In 1980, while the couple dealt with bureaucratic gridlock on other projects, a Miami community art festival invited Christo and Jeanne-Claude to participate. While they declined on account of the Miami summer heat, they continued to explore the idea for a project in the city.{{sfn|Fineberg|2004|p=40}} Jeanne-Claude conceived the concept,<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Turner |first1=Christopher |title=Jeanne-Claude, Christo's wife and collaborator, obituary |work=The Guardian |date=2009-11-20 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/nov/20/jeanne-claude-christo-obituary |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> which would surround 11 spoil islands with floating pink fabric in Miami's Biscayne Bay. They reviewed the engineering and environmental impacts for three years, learning about the bay's protected wildlife, commissioning studies of local wildlife, scoping logistics for anchoring the fabric to the islands, and experimenting with floating fabrics. The work also involved lobbying work to acquire public support, governmental approval, and permits.{{sfn|Fineberg|2004|p=40}} Their <!--staff included civil and marine engineers as well as-->lawyers handled a federal lawsuit from a wildlife paramedic. The artists, as was their practice, restored environments to their original condition, but in Miami's case, they additionally cleaned 40 tons of waste during the project.<ref name=Palumbo/>

The project was supported by the Miami-Dade Public Library System, which aided in the planning and facilitated coordination with local officials to attain the approvals necessary to realize it. Margarita Cano, the Library System's Head of Community Relations, and librarian-curator Barbara Young were involved in the development of the project and helped the artists test the specialized fabric, custom made in Germany and Japan, on the roof of the former Bayfront Park library location in Downtown Miami to determine its durability and if it would fade before selecting it for use in the installation.<ref name="Miami Herald Jan 2012">{{cite news |last1=Fraser Delgado |first1=Celeste |title=Library fundraiser, exhibition celebrates Miami's Three Graces |work=The Miami Herald |date=29 January 2012 |location=Miami, Florida |page=3M}}</ref><ref name="Miami Herald 10-14-2018">{{cite news |last1=Austin |first1=Tom |title='Pink Phase': Miami's 1983 Christo exhibit shook the world and changed the city forever |work=The Miami Herald |date=14 October 2018 |location=Miami, Florida |pages=M6–M7}}</ref>

==Main project==

The installation mounted for 11 days in May 1983. It was isolated, existing across 11 miles in the bay, and was mainly consumed through mass media, being best portrayed by aerial photography and over television. ''Surrounded Islands'' was the couple's most expensive work to date{{sfn|Fineberg|2004|p=40}} and their largest work by size in their lifetimes.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Greenberger |first1=Alex |title=Enormous Wrappings by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Ranked by Size: From Covered Monuments to Mountainside Curtains |work=ARTnews.com |date=2020-04-03 |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/artists/christo-jeanne-claude-most-famous-works-wrappings-1202683065/ |language=en-US |access-date=2020-06-03 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> The finished work played a strong role in developing the city's reputation as a place of culture.<ref name=Palumbo>{{Cite web |last1=Palumbo |first1=Jacqui |title=Christo, who made monumental art around the world, has died at 84 |work=CNN |date=2020-06-01 |url=https://www.cnn.com/style/article/christo-artist-dead/index.html |language=en |access-date=2020-06-03 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

The main exhibition for the project was held in June of 1983 at the Miami-Dade Public Library System's former Bayfront Park library location.<ref name="Miami Herald 10-14-2018" /> The exhibition was curated by Margarita Cano and Barbara Young and detailed its process, concepts, and development while featuring the sketches and now-iconic pink cloth used, which were subsequently donated to the Library System's Vasari Project archives.<ref name="Miami Herald 10-14-2018" />

== In popular culture ==

English visual artist and experimental composer Anthony Manning named his 1994 album ''Islets in Pink Polypropylene'' after a description of the artwork in an article he read during the album's production.<ref name="manning">{{Cite web|url=https://germstore.bandcamp.com/album/islets-in-pink-polypropylene|title = Islets in Pink Polypropylene, by Anthony Manning}}</ref>

The artwork is discussed, in contrast with William Lustig's 1980 slasher film ''Maniac'', in David Antin's poem ''what it means to be avant-garde''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Antin |first=David |date=June 1, 1993 |title=what it means to be avant garde |publisher=New Directions |pages=40–61 |isbn=978-0811212380}}</ref> thumb|Reichstag installation by Christo In 1987, filmmakers Albert Maysles, David Maysles, and Charlotte Zwerin released the documentary ''Islands''. The film comments on how the artist duo wrapped a set of islands out of South Florida with 6.5 million square feet of pink textile. ''Islands'' also touches on iconic art installations such as the wrapping of the Pont Neuf in Paris and the Reichstag in Berlin.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pace On Screen: Sixty Years {{!}} Christo and Jeanne-Claude {{!}} Pace Gallery |url=https://www.pacegallery.com/pacelive/pace-on-screen-sixty-years-christo-jeanne-claude/ |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=www.pacegallery.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wolfe |first=Shira |date=2020-02-05 |title=Stories of Iconic Artworks: Christo and Jeanne-Claude's Surrounded Islands |url=https://magazine.artland.com/stories-of-iconic-artworks-christo-and-jeanne-claudes-surrounded-islands/ |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=Artland Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Notable art exhibitions ==

*''Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Surrounded Islands, Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami, Florida, 1980-83 | A Documentation Exhibition'', June 1983. Miami-Dade Public Library System, Bayfront Park branch.<ref name="Miami Herald Jan 2012" /><ref name="Miami Herald 10-14-2018" /> * ''Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Surrounded Islands, Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami, Florida, 1980-83 | A Documentary Exhibition'', 2019. Pérez Art Museum Miami<ref>{{Cite web |last=perezartmuseummiami |date=2020-06-11 |title=Remembering Christo |url=https://pammportraits.org/2020/06/11/remembering-christo/ |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=pammportraits.org |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Surrounded Islands, Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami, Florida, 1980–83 {{!}} A Documentary Exhibition |url=https://www.artforum.com/artguide/perez-art-museum-miami-pamm-11943/surrounded-islands-biscayne-bay-greater-miami-florida-1980-83-a-documentary-exhibition-163934 |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=www.artforum.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Christo's "Surrounded Islands" Revisited at PAMM |url=https://whitewall.art/art/close-christos-surrounded-islands |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=Whitewall |date=December 3, 2018 |language=en}}</ref> * ''Islands: Christo and Jeanne-Claude'' (screening), 2020. Pace Gallery, New York<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pace On Screen: Sixty Years {{!}} Christo and Jeanne-Claude {{!}} Pace Gallery |url=https://www.pacegallery.com/pacelive/pace-on-screen-sixty-years-christo-jeanne-claude/ |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=www.pacegallery.com |language=en}}</ref> * ''Christo Drawings: A Gift from the Maria Bechily and Scott Hodes Collection'', 2022-2023. Pérez Art Museum Miami, United States<ref>{{Cite web |title=NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale |url=https://nsuartmuseum.org/exhibition/surrounded-islands/ |access-date=2025-11-10 |website=NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale |language=en-US}}</ref> * ''Christo & Jeanne-Claude Surrounded Islands Documentation Exhibition,'' 2025-2027. NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale<ref>{{Cite web |title=Christo and Jeanne-Claude Surrounded Islands Documentation Exhibition – NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale |url=https://nsuartmuseum.org/exhibition/surrounded-islands/ |access-date=2025-11-10 |website=nsuartmuseum.org}}</ref>

== Notes ==

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== Bibliography ==

{{refbegin}}

* {{Cite book |last1=Baal-Teshuva |first1=Jacob |title=Christo and Jeanne-Claude |date=2001 |language=en |isbn=978-3-8228-5996-4 |publisher=Taschen |df=mdy-all }} * {{Cite news |last1=Bennetts |first1=Leslie |title=Christo Will Wrap 11 Islands in Pink |work=The New York Times |date=1982-12-28 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/28/arts/christo-will-wrap-11-islands-in-pink.html |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |df=mdy-all }} * {{Cite book |last1=Chernow |first1=Burt |title=Christo and Jeanne-Claude: A Biography |date=2002 |language=en |isbn=978-0-312-28074-1 |publisher=Macmillan }} * {{Cite news |agency=The Associated Press |title=Compromise Proposed in Christo Island-Wrap |work=The New York Times |date=1983-03-20 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/20/arts/compromise-proposed-in-christo-island-wrap.html |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |df=mdy-all }} * {{Cite web |last1=Earnest |first1=Jarrett |title=Boating Out to Christo's Pink-Wrapped Islands With the Artist, 35 Years Later |work=Vulture |date=2018-12-11 |url=https://www.vulture.com/2018/12/christo-revisits-pink-miami-surrounded-islands-1983.html |language=en-us |access-date=2020-06-03 |df=mdy-all }} * {{Cite book |last1=Fineberg |first1=Jonathan David |chapter=Surrounded Islands |pages=40–41 |title=Christo and Jeanne-Claude: On the Way to The Gates, Central Park, New York City |date=2004 |language=en |isbn=978-0-300-10405-9 |publisher=Yale University Press |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4qIdvY2fBUMC&pg=PA40 }} * {{Cite news |last1=Glueck |first1=Grace |title=Christo Vision Unfolds |work=The New York Times |date=1983-05-06 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/06/arts/christo-vision-unfolds.html |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |df=mdy-all }} * {{Cite web |last1=Nilson |first1=Lisbet |title='This Is My Water Lilies': Christo's Blossoms in the Bay |work=ARTnews |date=January 1984 |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/retrospective/archives-christo-surrounds-islands-miamis-biscayne-bay-fabric-1984-11464/ |language=en-US |access-date=2020-06-02 |df=mdy-all }} * {{Cite news |last1=Sokol |first1=Brett |title=Pérez Art Museum Miami Recalls Pink Islands |work=The New York Times |date=2018-10-26 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/26/arts/design/perez-museum-christo-surrounded-islands.html |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |df=mdy-all }} * {{Cite web |last1=Valys |first1=Phillip |title=Christo on 'Surrounded Islands': 'The fear of failure was always there' |work=Sun Sentinel |date=2018-09-28 |url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/entertainment/theater-and-arts/sf-christo-surrounded-islands-miami-art-basel-20180926-story.html |access-date=2020-06-03 |df=mdy-all }}

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{{italictitle}} {{Christo and Jeanne-Claude}} {{Portal bar|Visual arts|Florida}}

Category:1983 works Category:Works by Christo and Jeanne-Claude Category:Art in Florida