Miami Art Week at The Betsy Hotel’s Gallery
Christo and Jeanne-Claude as seen through the lens of Wolfgang Volz
Featuring limited-edition photographs, including images of the iconic Surrounded Islands (1983) in Biscayne Bay
During Miami Art Week 2025, The Betsy Hotel’s Exhibitions Program — curated by owner Lesley Goldwasser — will present a collection of 38 limited-edition works by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, many of them photographed by their longtime collaborator, Wolfgang Volz.
The exhibition will open at The Betsy Gallery on December 4, 2025, at 10 PM, and is free and open to the public.
About the Artists & the Exhibition
Christo and Jeanne-Claude invited the world to re-imagine familiar landscapes by transforming them through monumental environmental installations. Their projects — visionary, complex, and often controversial — required years of negotiation, engineering, and public engagement, making the process as significant as the final work.
Photographer Wolfgang Volz served as the primary documentarian and close collaborator for more than 50 years. His photographs not only capture the visual poetry of each large-scale installation, but also the temporal, political, and environmental realities surrounding their creation. His work preserves these once-temporary artworks long after their physical disappearance, allowing audiences to continue experiencing them in new ways.
Featured Works
The exhibition includes iconic images from global projects such as:
- Surrounded Islands – Biscayne Bay, Miami (1983)
- The Pont Neuf Wrapped – Paris (1985)
- Wrapped Reichstag – Berlin (1995)
- and more
Surrounded Islands – Miami, 1983
Installed in Biscayne Bay, the work surrounded 11 islands with 603,870 square meters (6.5 million sq. ft.) of floating pink woven polypropylene fabric, extending 61 meters (200 feet) from each shoreline. The material was cut and sewn into 79 custom patterns to follow the contours of the islands.
For two weeks in 1983, the piece was visible from land, sea, and air — from Bakers Haulover Cut to the Venetian Causeway — transforming the bay into a vast, immersive, color-saturated artwork that remains one of Miami’s most legendary cultural moments.
More about The Betsy Hotel
As the anchor of the arts in Miami Beach, The Betsy Hotel is committed to artistic excellence year-round, serving as a cultural destination with a rich tapestry of initiatives designed to make art accessible and engaging for everyone. In fact, The Betsy is the only non-museum institution that is included in Miami Beach’s Culture Crawl. The Betsy houses permanent art galleries in nearly all of its communal spaces—from the hallways to the elevators and staircases—featuring works curated by The Betsy’s co-owner Lesley Goldwasser. Highlights include “The Betsy Orb,” an egg-shaped architectural marvel that functions as a bridge connecting the hotel’s two buildings, and “The Poetry Rail,” an installation of poetry etched into metal by water jets, celebrating the contributions of 12 writers who have shaped Miami culture. The Betsy’s Arts & Community Engagement Program also offers more than visual arts, with live jazz performances nine times a week, classical music pop-ups, poetry readings and an acclaimed artist residency program, which has hosted more than 1,500 writers and creatives.
Address: 1440 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139 | 844.539.2840
Instagram: @thebetsyhotel
