# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Aqualand Artist Interview Series. Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2022.  Jen Mallinson

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2022. Exhibition Video Part Two

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Bondi 2015 Sculpture by the Sea Timelapse Highlights

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe 2022 Exhibition Video

# data[].attributes.body
Sculpture by the Sea is an annual outdoor sculpture exhibition that takes place along the coastal walk from Bondi to Tamarama in Sydney, Australia. The exhibition attracts thousands of visitors each year and has become one of the most highly anticipated events in the Australian arts calendar. In this essay, we will explore the history of Sculpture by the Sea, its impact on the art world, and some of the notable artists and works featured in the exhibition.

The first Sculpture by the Sea exhibition was held in 1997 and featured 64 sculptures by Australian and international artists. Since then, the exhibition has grown in size and popularity, attracting artists and visitors from around the world. The exhibition takes place over three weeks in October and November each year and showcases over 100 sculptures along the 2km coastal walk from Bondi to Tamarama.

One of the most significant impacts of Sculpture by the Sea is its ability to bring contemporary art into a public space and engage a wide audience in a conversation about art and the environment. The exhibition is free and open to the public, and its location along the coast allows visitors to interact with the sculptures in a unique and memorable way.

Sculpture by the Sea also provides a platform for emerging and established artists to showcase their work and reach a broader audience. Many artists have gone on to achieve significant success after exhibiting their work at Sculpture by the Sea, including Jason deCaires Taylor, who went on to create the underwater sculpture museums off the coast of Lanzarote and Cancun.

Some of the notable artists and works featured in Sculpture by the Sea include David McCracken's "Diminish and Ascend," a spiral staircase that appears to climb into the sky, and Andrew Hankin's "The Clearing," a structure made from over 10,000 pieces of driftwood that reflects on the impact of climate change on the Australian landscape.

In conclusion, Sculpture by the Sea is an annual outdoor sculpture exhibition that has had a significant impact on the art world in Australia and beyond. The exhibition brings contemporary art into a public space and engages a wide audience in a conversation about art and the environment. Sculpture by the Sea provides a platform for emerging and established artists to showcase their work, and its location along the coast creates a unique and memorable experience for visitors. The exhibition will continue to inspire and challenge the public's perceptions of art and the environment for years to come

# data[].attributes.body
Jason deCaires Taylor is an artist and environmentalist known for his underwater sculptures that explore the relationship between humans and the natural world. His works create artificial coral reefs and habitats for marine life, while also engaging the public in a dialogue about the impact of human activity on the ocean's ecosystems. In this essay, we will explore the life and works of Jason deCaires Taylor, focusing on his career as a visual artist and his impact on the art world.

Jason deCaires Taylor was born in 1974 in Dover, England. He received his education at the London Institute of Arts, where he studied sculpture and ceramics. In 2006, he began creating underwater sculptures as a way to explore the relationship between humans and the natural world, and his works have since become some of the most celebrated and influential installations in contemporary art.

One of deCaires Taylor's most famous works is the "Museo Atlantico," an underwater sculpture museum off the coast of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. The museum features over 300 life-sized figures and structures, including a 30-foot-tall sculpture of a refugee boat, and creates a habitat for marine life while also exploring themes of migration, climate change, and human impact on the ocean's ecosystems.

Another famous work by deCaires Taylor is the "Coral Greenhouse," an installation in the Great Barrier Reef that features a series of coral-shaped sculptures that provide a habitat for marine life and create a new coral reef ecosystem. The work was created in response to the devastation caused by coral bleaching and climate change in the Great Barrier Reef.

DeCaires Taylor's works are known for their ability to create new habitats for marine life and their commentary on the impact of human activity on the ocean's ecosystems. His sculptures are made from materials that are environmentally friendly, such as pH-neutral cement that encourages the growth of coral, and his installations are designed to be accessible to the public, inviting them to engage in a dialogue about the relationship between humans and the natural world.

In conclusion, Jason deCaires Taylor is an artist and environmentalist who has made a significant impact on the art world through his underwater sculptures that explore the relationship between humans and the natural world. His works create new habitats for marine life while also engaging the public in a dialogue about the impact of human activity on the ocean's ecosystems. DeCaires Taylor's legacy as an artist and environmentalist will continue to shape the art world for generations to come, and his message about the importance of protecting our planet will inspire future generations to take action to protect the natural world.

# data[].attributes.body
Christo was a Bulgarian-born artist known for his large-scale, temporary installations that transformed landscapes and urban environments. His works were characterized by their monumental scale and their ability to engage the public in a dialogue about the relationship between art and the natural world. In this essay, we will explore the life and works of Christo, focusing on his career as a visual artist and his impact on the art world.

Christo Vladimirov Javacheff was born in Gabrovo, Bulgaria in 1935 and received his education at the National Academy of Fine Arts in Sofia. He left Bulgaria in 1956 and spent several years in Europe before moving to the United States in 1964. Christo met his wife and artistic partner, Jeanne-Claude, in Paris in 1958, and they worked together on all of their installations until Jeanne-Claude's death in 2009.

Christo's works were known for their ability to transform the landscape and engage the public in a dialogue about the relationship between art and the natural world. One of his most famous works was "The Gates," an installation in New York City's Central Park in 2005. The installation consisted of 7,503 saffron-colored fabric panels that were hung from 23 miles of steel frames, creating a series of arches that lined the park's walkways. The work was on view for only 16 days but attracted millions of visitors and became a symbol of the city's resilience after the September 11th attacks.

Another famous work by Christo was "Wrapped Reichstag," which was a temporary installation in Berlin, Germany in 1995. The installation consisted of wrapping the Reichstag building in silver fabric, transforming the iconic building into a sculptural object. The work was on view for two weeks and attracted over five million visitors.

Christo's works were often controversial, as they required extensive planning and negotiation with local governments and authorities. However, they were also celebrated for their ability to engage the public and create a sense of wonder and awe. Christo and Jeanne-Claude's installations often required years of planning and fundraising, and they never accepted funding from corporations or governments to maintain their artistic independence.

In conclusion, Christo was a visual artist who transformed the landscape and engaged the public in a dialogue about the relationship between art and the natural world. His large-scale installations were celebrated for their ability to create a sense of wonder and awe, and they often required years of planning and negotiation to bring to fruition. Christo's works continue to inspire and provoke audiences around the world, and his legacy as an artist will continue to shape the art world for generations to come.

# data[].attributes.body
Christo passed away in May 2020, but his legacy lives on through his innovative and boundary-pushing works. He has been recognized for his contribution to contemporary art with numerous awards, including the Praemium Imperiale in 2019 and the Wolf Prize in Arts in 2017.

In conclusion, Christo was a visual artist whose large-scale environmental installations challenged the boundaries of traditional art and transformed public spaces into surreal and temporary art installations. His works were a commentary on politics, history, and the power of public art. Christo's legacy will continue to inspire and provoke audiences around the world for generations to

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Christo: The Floating Piers and Work in Progress

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
An 18-foot (5.5 meters), 60-ton statue called Ocean Atlas, was recently installed underwater off the coast of Nassau in the Bahamas. The giant structure was made by Jason deCaires Taylor, an artist who has created several underwater sculptures. The sculpture of a Bahamian girl carrying the weight of the oceans on her shoulders is meant to evoke the Greek myth of Atlas, a Titan who held up the celestial spheres. [ Read more about the giant underwater statue] (Photo credit: Jason deCaires Taylor)

Underwater sculpture

The massive statue, which was installed earlier this month, will soon begin its second life under the seas. Its creator, Jason deCaires Taylor, has designed the statue to become an artificial reef where fish, crustaceans and coral all shelter.

Lowering into the water

The sculpture, which weighs 60 tons, was built in several pieces on land. Those pieces were then lowered into the water with a crane.

Major project

Because the sculpture was so huge, the team had to lower each piece individually into the water. Divers then aligned those pieces and locked them into place under water.

Built on land

The individual pieces of the sculpture were cast in molds, using a special marine-grade concrete that resists degradation in the salty ocean water. Taylor hopes the material will last for hundreds of years. Taylor also avoided using reinforcing metal bars, which are typically found in concrete structures, because the metal can corrode underwater.

Building ocean atlas

Here, the statue stands assembled on land.

Casting ocean atlas

The statue was cast using several molds, such ask the one shown here. Taylor designed the textured concrete to mimic the rocklike surfaces where embryonic coral take root. Eventually, the giant sculpture will become an artificial coral reef where sea life hides.

Construction crew

Building such a large statue was a team effort. Here, the construction crew that worked on the project.

Ocean atlas model

The sculpture is intended to convey the idea that local people, and especially the next generation, can support the and prevent the oceans from collapsing. So he used a local girl named Camilla, shown here, as the model for the work.

Living reef

Though the statue has now been installed, its transformation is just beginning. Because the statue will be an artificial reef, its appearance will change day-to-day as more and more coral anchor to the surface and as a panoply of fish, crabs and other creatures take shelter there. Taylor occasionally seeds the sculptures with coral to speed that process along.

Surface to seafloor

Though Taylor has built many other underwater sculptures, for this sculpture he wanted to create something that used all the space from the water's surface to the ocean floor. As a result, "Ocean Atlas," shown here from below, provides swimmers and divers with completely different views than they would ordinarily have from above. Here, a snorkeler views the sctatue from above. The incredible size of the sculpture will also create multiple habitats for sea life. Crustaceans will probably shelter at the base of the sculpture, while schooling fish will hide from predators inside the voids and spaces.

Locking in place

Here, the team locks the pieces into place for the final installation. Choosing a good location for the statue wasn't trivial. In order to seed coral on the statue, Taylor chose a location that was downstream from a natural reef, so that embryonic coral could drift through the water and anchor on the sculpture.

Inspiring conservation

"Ocean Atlas" may aid conservation, not only by inspiring people to protect the oceans, but also by diverting snorkerlers and scuba divers from nearby natural reefs that have been damaged by overuse. Here, a view of the statue from below.

Another view

Because of the buoyancy of the water, gravity's pull is much weakerk underwater and snorkelers and divers can swim up, down and around the statue, getting views of the sculpture that would never be possible on land.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Photos: The Largest Underwater Sculpture

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An 18-foot (5.5 meters), 60-ton statue called Ocean Atlas, was recently installed underwater off the coast of Nassau in the Bahamas. The giant structure was made by Jason deCaires Taylor, an artist who has created several underwater sculptures.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Moving Dutch Sculptures on the Beach....

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Theo Jansen’s Wind-Powered Sculptures | The New Yorker

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Bondi 2014 Sculpture by the Sea Timelapse Highlights

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sculpture by the Sea - South Bondi/Tamarama - Bondi New South Wales

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
23 reviews of Sculpture by the Sea "We happened to be in Sydney during the last weekend of Sculpture by the Sea. The captain of our plane recommended checking it out and I'm so glad we did. This is a large public modern art exhibit along the...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Underwater Sculpture by Jason deCaires Taylor

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Jason deCaires Taylor MRSS (b.1974) is an award winning sculptor, environmentalist and professional underwater photographer. For the past 17 years, Taylor has been creating underwater museums and sculpture parks beneath the waves, submerging over 1,200 living artworks throughout the world's oceans and seas. Themes explored by these artistic installations include, among others, the climate emergency, environmental activism, and the regenerative attributes of nature. The sculptures create a habitat for marine life whilst illustrating humanity's fragility and its relationship with the marine world. Taylor's subjects mainly feature members of the local community, focussing on their connections with their own coastal environments.
"Museums are places of conservation, education, and about protecting something sacred. We need to assign those same values to our oceans." Jason deCaires Taylor

Jason deCaires Taylor Studio has produced a series of sculptures encrusted with artificially grown copper crystals. These replicate the natural formation of corals found on the underwater artwork installations.

Taylor's work is a collaboration with nature. By using low carbon, pH neutral materials designed to be colonised, the surrounding environment transforms the artworks. Each sculpture is effectively an artificial reef that provides new habitat spaces for a variety of marine life whilst drawing tourists away from natural, fragile areas. The works, which are assimilated by the sea, send a message of regeneration and hope at a time of significant threats to our marine world.

Each year, over half a million people worldwide visit Taylor's underwater museums and sculpture parks. These unique attractions act as portals to the marine world and provide visitors with intimate encounters with marine life and an alternative perspective on our blue planet.

Explore the various projects that are located throughout the world including in the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Mediterranean Sea and North Sea. The galleries depict the transition the sculptures go through from being static inert forms to dynamic living reefs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Home - Underwater Sculpture by Jason deCaires Taylor

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Underwater Museums - Taylor's underwater sculpture is assimilated by the ocean and transformed from inert objects into living breathing reefs

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Europe's first underwater sculpture museum - in pictures

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Artist Jason deCaires Taylor's Museo Atlantico, off Lanzarote, is peopled with concrete casts of refugees and people taking selfies

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ocean Atlas is the world's largest underwater sculpture

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
23 Cool Sculptures You Won't Believe Actually Exist

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.entities[].name
Haunting Underwater Sculptures Combine Art & Conservation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Amazing Underwater World by Jason Decaires Taylor

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Art by Jason Decaires Taylor - http://www.underwatersculpture.com/ Song: Bottom of the Sea - http://www.dhruvaaliman.com/ -- iTunes and https://dhruvaaliman.bandcamp.com/album/hard-to-get-along ...... In November 2009 Jason deCaires Taylor started a monumental project off the coast of Cancún in Mexico.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Sculpture Coralarium by Jason deCaires Taylor

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Underwater Statues by Jason deCaires Taylor

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Jason deCaires Taylor: An underwater art museum, teeming with life

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
For sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor, the ocean is more than a muse -- it's an exhibition space and museum. Taylor creates sculptures of human forms and mundane life on land and sinks them to the ocean floor, where they are subsumed by the sea and transformed from lifeless stone into vibrant habitats for corals, crustaceans and other creatures.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Building The World's Largest Underwater Sculpture

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
From its pristine beaches to abundant rainforests, Bali is without a doubt home to some of the world's most stunning scenery, and this latest underwater installment is no different. A breathtaking sculpture has just hit Balinese waters, and it's both eerie and captivating.

Off the coast of Gili Meno lies the hauntingly beautiful sculpture entitled Nest, where 48 life-size human figures are standing, curled up on the seabed or are embracing one another.

Each figure in Nest was created using the casts of real people, making each one completely unique with their own facial expression.

The piece was created by renowned sculptor and environmentalist Jason deCaires Taylor whose underwater creations currently reside in the Caribbean, the Thames and the Canary Islands. Although the creation will no doubt become a hot attraction with tourists, the purpose of the project is to encourage reef growth.

The island of Gili Meno has a permanent population of just 500 people, and is known for its turtle habitat and plentiful ecosystem. To adapt to the delicate environment, the sculpture is made from a pH neutral, environmental-grade concrete and within a year will become one with the reef.

"First and foremost Nest is an environmental space. The figures are arranged in a circular formation as an echo of the circle of life, and they will soon teem with life. Soft corals and sponges should flourish quickly paving the way for delicate hard corals and a fully established reef", said deCaires Taylor in a statement.

As for getting there? The sculpture sits in shallow waters and will be just a short swim from the beach club at BASK Gili Meno set to open with 87 luxury villas in 2019.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The new hauntingly beautiful underwater sculpture beneath Bali's waters

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
From its pristine beaches to abundant rainforests, Bali is without a doubt home to some of the world's most stunning scenery, and this latest underwater installment is no different. A breathtaking sculpture has just hit Balinese waters, and it's both eerie and captivating.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Love it or hate it, Damien Hirst's vast " Treasures From the Wreck of The Unbelievable" show was one of the major attractions around the 2017 Venice Biennale, stuffed to the gills with barnacle-covered statues and (staged) documentation depicting their rescue from the ocean floor.

You can probably count the island nation of Grenada in the "hate it" camp.

Just a few minutes away from one of Hirst's two venues, the Punta Della Dogana, you'll find the Grenada Pavilion's group presentation, " The Bridge." Wandering into that show, you really do feel you've entered an unauthorized annex of Hirst's "Unbelievable" show for a second.

There are statues caked in sea life. There are moody underwater images. These, however, are not works by Damien Hirst but by the artist Jason deCaires Taylor (b. 1974).

The coincidence is even more unbelievable than the crazy tale Hirst is weaving around his show!

Hirst has, of course, been working on his "Unbelievable" show for some 10 years. DeCaires Taylor, for his part, founded the world's first underwater sculpture park off the west coast of Grenada back in 2006. His biography describes him as "the first of a new generation of artists to shift the concepts of the Land Art movement into the realm of the marine environment," and he's installed underwater sculptures and spoken about his undersea art to crowds all over the world.

A definite difference between the two installations: Hirst's work is all about the fantastical, while deCaires Taylor is out to say something about the environment. The two central sculptures of his small show, Bleached I (2017) and Bleached II (2017) are accompanied by information about the epidemic of "coral bleaching" caused by global warming, a phenomenon that is rapidly exterminating the world's reefs.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one who picked up on the similarity. Saying that the Pavilion had been "inundated with questions about Hirst's alleged appropriation of his work," DeCaires Taylor today issued a (fairly classy) statement:

Over the past 11 years working underwater I have always hoped my work was about giving something back, creating new life and providing glimpses into a fragile imperiled world. After viewing Hirst's latest exhibition it seems I have certainly created an art genre that has been responded to, but his marine facsimiles are very different in context from my living installations.

If people really want to see "unbelievable treasures" they should look below the surface of our seas at the real live wonders of the blue world-nature does not lie.

The artist does seem to be taking it all in stride-though he also added in an email to me, "At this moment I am still considering my options and discussing it with my legal team."

A spokesperson for Damien Hirst wrote:

Damien has always been fascinated by what he describes as "the action of the world on things" and he became interested in coralised works in the late 90s, when he sunk some objects off the coast of Mexico. The whole concept of Treasures is a fantastical story about a collection of objects, influenced by a wide range of cultures and stories from across the globe and throughout history, which are discovered at the bottom of the sea.

I'll let the readers judge what this deep-sea coincidence means.

Here's the deCaires Taylor installation in "The Bridge":

And here are some pictures from Hirst's "Treasures From the Wreck of The Unbelievable":
Note: This story was updated on May 17 to include a comment from Damien Hirst.

Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Damien Hirst's Venice Show Looks Exactly Like the Grenada Pavilion

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Love it or hate it, Damien Hirst's vast " Treasures From the Wreck of The Unbelievable" show was one of the major attractions around the 2017 Venice Biennale, stuffed to the gills with barnacle-covered statues and (staged) documentation depicting their rescue from the ocean floor.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Damien Hirst, with "Demon with Bowl (Exhibition Enlargement)" from his new show, "Treasures From the Wreck of the Unbelievable," at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice. Credit Credit Filippo Massellani for The New York Times

VENICE - Damien Hirst is staring into the eyes of a jade Buddha, its face seemingly abraded by the vestiges of time. "I think he looks damn good, considering he's 2,000 years old," he said, straining to keep a straight face. Nearby, the sculpture of a pharaoh fashioned from blue granite and displaying a gold nipple ring bears an uncanny resemblance to Pharrell Williams.

Is the face really that of the singer? "You could say that," Mr. Hirst responded. "It's all about what you want to believe."

After years of uncharacteristic silence, this artist known for his love-it-or-hate-it artworks is orchestrating his own comeback. On a recent morning, dressed all in black, Mr. Hirst could be found in the soaring entrance of the Palazzo Grassi watching his crew put the finishing touches on an extravaganza worthy of Cecil B. DeMille - his first major show of new work in 10 years. Opening to the public on Sunday, April 9, and called "Treasures From the Wreck of the Unbelievable," it is an underwater fantasy, with sculptures like the Buddha and hundreds of other objects fashioned to look as though they were antiquities dredged up from the bottom of the sea. The works will fill the Palazzo Grassi and the Punta della Dogana, two museums run by François Pinault, the Parisian collector who is also the owner of Christie's auction house.

Image

The show is widely seen as Mr. Hirst's attempt, at 51, to kick-start his career, which has suffered since 2008, when the financial and art markets crashed. Tapping into the age-old romance of shipwrecks, he and his patron are embarking on a giant artistic and financial gamble. "Treasures" cost Mr. Hirst millions of dollars to produce and Mr. Pinault millions to present (exact figures were not disclosed by either man). Collectors who have been offered the works report that prices start around $500,000 apiece rising to upward of $5 million. With Damien Hirst's market untested on such a grand scale, the question the art world is asking is, will he sink or swim in Venice?

Francesco Bonami, a curator who organized a major exhibition of Mr. Hirst's work in Doha, Qatar, four years ago, said the latest Hirst production "goes beyond good or bad," adding: "In his bombastic, exaggerated way, Damien has created a narrative the likes of which the public has never seen. Many will call it bad taste or kitsch, but it's more than all of that. It's Hollywood."

In keeping with Mr. Hirst's reputation as a serial shocker, "Treasures" presents a visual, believe-it-or-not fairy tale rooted in mythology, theology and the artist's imagination. The story goes like this: In 2008, a shipwreck was discovered off the coast of East Africa that is said to have contained a stash of treasures belonging to Cif Amotan II, a freed slave from northwest Turkey who lived between the first and early second centuries and who had amassed great wealth. His legendary collection of art and artifacts was placed on a ship, the Unbelievable, which sank. Divers rescued more than 100 works - giant sculptures of sea monsters encrusted with coral and semiprecious stones; golden monkeys, unicorns and tortoises; as well as a goddess whose face looks oddly like Kate Moss, a marble pharaoh that resembles Rihanna and a bronze statue of Mickey Mouse, covered with centuries of marine decay.

Will the public - and collectors - bite? For the past month, a carefully orchestrated publicity campaign has released clues meant to lead up to the Big Reveal (the project will be on view at the Pinault Collection during May's Venice Biennale).

Some have already begun to kick up a fuss. In March, animal activists here dropped 88 pounds of dung outside the Palazzo Grassi, including a message at the museum's door that read "Damien Hirst Go Home." (The show contains neither dead animals nor butterflies, another Hirst signature.) The reason for their protest, they said, is that the exhibition is "an insult to a city of REAL art."

Still, for every critic, there is a Hirst fan. "Damien's career has been made without regard to curators or critics," said Nicholas Serota, the departing director of the Tate, which held a 2012 Hirst retrospective. "That leaves the museum world a bit nervous."

For nearly four months, Elena Geuna, the show's curator, has been orchestrating the mammoth transport of sculptures - some weighing as much as four tons - by boat, many from a foundry in Gloucestershire, England, and installing videos and countless tiny objects that fill the show's nearly two dozen glass vitrines (each vitrine is considered one artwork). All told, more than 1,000 suppliers from places like Italy, Germany, South Africa and the United States were involved in making the show.

"It's like Elvis coming back to play in Las Vegas," said Oliver Barker, chairman of Sotheby's Europe. "After more than a decade, Damien is once again allowing his work to be scrutinized by a large public, and in doing so he is definitely putting his neck on the line."

Mr. Barker has witnessed Mr. Hirst's gambles up close. In 2008, he helped mastermind Mr. Hirst's audacious attempt at bypassing his dealers by organizing an epic auction at Sotheby's of more than 200 of his works. It took place on the same fateful day that Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, yet Mr. Hirst still managed to sell $200 million of his work.

Since then, his prices have wildly seesawed. While one of Mr. Hirst's Spot paintings sold in a Sotheby's sale in November for just $396,500 - a steep decline from the $1.7 million they sometimes commanded in 2013 - prices have been inching up. White Cube, a gallery in London, claimed to have sold a 2015 painting by Mr. Hirst, "Holbein (Artists' Watercolors)," measuring 13 feet wide, priced at £750,000 (more than $930,000), showing he could still sell at a reasonably high level.

The new work is a step up, with a severed head of Medusa said to be priced at $4 million. With the contemporary art market showing signs of strengthening, Mr. Barker called the prices "well moderated." But the monumental scale of many works may make it difficult to sell to anyone who does not own a museum-size house.

"Damien is an astonishing survivor," said Robert Storr, a curator, professor, critic and former dean of the Yale School of Art. "He'll probably produce a spectacle, but I doubt it will be of lasting interest artistically. Unlike Jeff Koons, he rarely produces surprises anymore." He added that while the public appetite for temporary exhibitions has grown, the audience for serious art has shrunk, and that the financially interested people like collectors and dealers are a very small group.

None of the new works are unique; each is made in an edition of three, with two artist's proofs. In each edition, there are three sculptures: what Mr. Hirst describes as the "Coral," meaning the work created to look like its "original" encrusted state from the deep; a "Treasure," the artwork seemingly restored by conservators for display; and the "Copy," which purports to be a modern museum reproduction of the original.

It has been 13 years since Mr. Hirst's last major show, a retrospective at the Naples National Archaeological Museum. Still, he has not been totally out of the limelight. In 2015, he opened the Newport Street Gallery, a museum space in South London where he has presented exhibitions from his personal collection, by artists including Jeff Koons. Many in the art world wondered if Mr. Hirst had mellowed into a gentleman curator.

"After the Sotheby's auction and after making the skull, I started thinking of what to do next," Mr. Hirst recalled, referring to his 2007 human skull cast in platinum and covered with 8,601 diamonds, which was purchased by a consortium of investors said to have included Mr. Hirst.

He was standing in the grand atrium that is the entrance to the Palazzo Grassi on the Grand Canal, staring at the body of a monumental demon that consumes the space, its severed head replete with fangs and a serpent's tongue. "At the time I was working on my garden in Devon, which I realized was going to take 10 years," he said. "Art, like gardens, often takes time to grow."

When he talks about his work, Mr. Hirst manages a tone that is sincere but always tinged with irony. Since childhood, he said, he has been obsessed with mythology. "I came up with the title first," he recalled, and then invented the tale, including the protagonist, Amotan, the collector whose bronze bust seems to resemble the face of the artist himself.

"It's me, it's Pinault, it's Walt Disney, it's anyone who has a vision," Mr. Hirst said.

Stefan Edlis, a Chicago philanthropist who has been buying Mr. Hirst's work for decades, said, "The first time I had an inkling Damien was up to something was eight years ago, when I saw the Medusa's head in his studio." So enamored was Mr. Edlis with "a brilliant fairy tale" that he bought all three versions of "Hermaphrodite," a 4½-foot-tall bronze made in 2009.

Mr. Edlis is one of the few collectors who have admitted making a purchase. Many art advisers and collectors are skeptical, waiting to see the works first.

For several months now, salespeople from Gagosian and White Cube, which represent Mr. Hirst, have been on what Mr. Edlis described as a "roadshow," traveling around to collectors armed with iPad images displaying all the works. These public sales efforts have prompted critics to say that Mr. Pinault is using his spaces for commercial purposes. "What can I say?" Mr. Pinault responded in a telephone interview. "I cannot avoid those comments. But this is not commercial. It's about showing the art that I love."

A 30-year collector of Mr. Hirst's work, Mr. Pinault responded coyly, when asked by email if he had bought anything himself: "Perhaps. Probably. But I am not going to tell you which ones!"

Hirst devotees will immediately see his signature themes. There are skulls and vitrines, but unlike his glass-fronted medicine cabinets from the late 1980s and '90s that were filled with drugs or cigarette butts, the new display cases hold gold coins, jewelry and "ancient" artifacts. The idea of ambiguity - is it old or made yesterday? Real or make believe? - has existed in his work throughout his 30-year career. But this time Mr. Hirst has carried his theme to its extreme, employing a film crew to shoot divers on a pretend rescue mission off Zanzibar documenting sculptures being pulled from the sea. And what to make of the unexplained references to pop culture, figures like Mickey Mouse and the vocalist Yolandi Visser, who appears as a Mesopotamian goddess?

"Believing," Mr. Hirst kept repeating. "Believing, it's different from religion. It's what we need to do today." Although he began working on the show years before "Brexit," Britain'splanned withdrawal from the European Union, or Donald J. Trump became president, Mr. Hirst likes to think the exhibition reflects the world's current political mood.

"When you're an artist, everything you do you think is about the world we are living in today," he said. "And now," he added, "with all the liars running our governments, it's far easier to believe in the past than it is in the future."

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page AR1 of the New York edition with the headline: A Hirst Comeback Bid as Underwater Fantasy. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Damien Hirst Is Back With an Underwater Fantasy. Will Collectors Care?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
VENICE - Damien Hirst is staring into the eyes of a jade Buddha, its face seemingly abraded by the vestiges of time. "I think he looks damn good, considering he's 2,000 years old," he said, straining to keep a straight face.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
designboom | architecture & design magazine

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
the life size hybrids take the shapes of various species, including bears, foxes and seagulls, as well as plants and pieces of fruit.

the life size hybrids take the shapes of various species, including bears, foxes and seagulls, as well as plants and pieces of fruit.

vicente muñoz series of inferred images, titled sublimis, utilizes a technique of aerial photography primarily used in combat zones.

vicente muñoz series of inferred images, titled sublimis, utilizes a technique of aerial photography primarily used in combat zones.

the object both reflects the evolving desert community beneath it and serves as an enormous wayfinding device.

the object both reflects the evolving desert community beneath it and serves as an enormous wayfinding device.

the designer considers the square to be the purest expression of a single color -- the projection of a color grid alters the perception of 2D and 3D space.

the designer considers the square to be the purest expression of a single color -- the projection of a color grid alters the perception of 2D and 3D space.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
damien hirst's venice underwater fantasy exhibition 'treasures'

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
'treasures from the wreck of the unbelievable ' is currently on show at palazzo grassi and punta della dogana. see the installment of the centerpiece in the foyer of palazzo grassi, 'demon with bowl', a more than 18 meter tall sculpture.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
An ocean-spanning underwater sculpture garden 11 years in the making set down roots at the 57th Venice Biennale this month, and it isn't by Damien Hirst-it's eco artist Jason deCaires Taylor's latest surreal sunken statues.

Just a five-minute walk away from deCaires Taylor's installation at the Official National Pavilion of Grenada, however, the richest artist alive's headline-generating Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable includes sculptures designed to look like they've been moldering in the wreckage of the Greek ship Apistos, which sunk in the 2nd century A.D. According to a release from Taylor, a side-effect Hirst's new work is a line of inquiry about whether Hirst appropriated his underwater sculpture aesthetic. Taylor released an official statement last night, reading:

"Over the past 11 years working underwater I have always hoped my work was about giving something back, creating new life and providing glimpses into a fragile imperilled [sic] world. After viewing Hirst's latest exhibition it seems I have certainly created an art genre that has been responded to, but his marine facsimiles are very different in context from my living installations. If people really want to see 'unbelievable treasures' they should look below the surface of our seas at the real live wonders of the blue world-nature does not lie."

Whether or not deCaires Taylor "created" the genre of underwater sculpture is also contentious. In 1954 Italian artist Guido Galletti sunk a bronze sculpture called Christ of the Abyss into the Mediterranean Sea near Genoa, Italy. A key difference in their practices is that deCaires Taylor creates his sculpture gardens with the express purpose of seeding artificial reefs in areas of the ocean particularly affected by climate change, pollution, and overfishing. In 2003, three years before deCaires Taylor began sinking his sculptures into the ocean surrounding Grenada, the sculpture was removed from the ocean and restored. However, the continuing comparison between Galletti, Taylor, and now, Hirst, embodies the slippery nature of determining ownership over ideas in the art world.

Taylor's work in Venice is an expansion of his Museo Atlantico project, described as, "the first underwater contemporary art museum in Europe and the Atlantic Ocean." He's also showing a film based on sculptures sunk in the ocean of Lanzatore, which you can see alongside his new work below.

See more of Jason deCaires Taylor's work on his website.

Related:

Saving the Ocean with Underwater Artwork

Oceanic Artist Adds a New Wing to Underwater Sculpture Garden

[Video] How Jason deCaires Taylor Built the World's Largest Underwater Sculpture

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
treasures from the wreck of the unbelievable

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Did Damien Hirst Copy This Artist's Underwater Sculptures?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An ocean-spanning underwater sculpture garden 11 years in the making set down roots at the 57th Venice Biennale this month, and it isn't by Damien Hirst-it's eco artist Jason deCaires Taylor's latest surreal sunken statues.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Bondi, 22nd annual exhibition | 18 October - 4 November 2018 Cottesloe, 15th annual exhibition | 1 - 18 March 2019 Join us for the largest free to the public sculpture exhibitions in the world! Home page image credits

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
We offer our congratulations to Keizo Ushio, who is the second artist to become a member of the Double Decade Club for Sculpture by the Sea at Bondi, having exhibited 20 times since 1999.

Keizo Ushio is one of Japan's most highly regarded sculptors and is renowned internationally for his extraordinary granite sculptures. This year the artist exhibits in our Sydney exhibition for the 20th consecutive year. His ingenious carving technique, based on the mathematics of the Moebius strip is extremely difficult to realise in granite, making his work popular with the public and collectors across the world.

Ushio graduated from the Kyoto City of University of Arts in 1976 and, upon receiving First Prize at the Henry Moore Exhibition at the Hakone Open Air Museum in 1979, began developing his signature style of sculpting. His carving technique is influenced by the mathematics of the Moebius strip, typically known as a one-sided, one-edged surface, which is notoriously difficult to create with materials of great weight and density. It is the achievement of this elegant reversed loop using the unyielding medium of granite that makes Ushio's work at once elegant and astonishing. The artist says of his work, "I want to tell a story of man's wisdom, exceeding both space and time. My sculpture is the proof of my existence."

Ushio has exhibited to international acclaim with his work represented in exhibitions, public locations and private collections in Japan, Spain, Iceland, Norway, Germany, Israel, India, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. Ushio's work has proved extremely popular with Australian collectors and the public alike since he began exhibiting in Australia at Sculpture by the Sea in 1999.

"I remember standing in Marks Park at Bondi in 1999 and dreaming how Sculpture by the Sea would grow over the next 10 years and that I wished to participate for 10 years. More than 10 years have already passed and I have many kinds of dreams about Sculpture by the Sea. Happily, I have exhibited in all Sculpture by the Sea since then in Sydney, Tasmania, Perth and Aarhus. Now I dream to see Sculpture by the Sea go to five continents, including Japan. Personally, one of best dreams to come true is increasing new friends around the world through Sculpture by the Sea."

Though all 20 of his sculptures have varied and the exhibition has grown significantly, Ushio maintains that after 20 years Sculpture by the Sea remains the same in spirit as when he first exhibited in 1999. And just as the exhibition continues to evolve, so too does this artist continue to innovate, describing the new sculpture he is producing for Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2018 as "a seaside creature" which he hopes "to assimilate with the large waves of the Pacific Ocean and the sandstone walls of the continent."

DOUBLE DECADE CLUB ARTIST - KEIZO USHIO (Japan)

Bondi Decade Club member since 2008
Cottesloe Decade Club member since 2014

"When I visited Cottesloe in 2005, the first impressions were very strong for me - the beautiful views, peacefulness, the kindness of people and unlimited potential. I was sure that this exhibition would become a paradise not only for Western Australian artists but also international artists. Over the last 10 years, I have found that a lot of Western Australian people love sculpture very much. Recently, I have found many sculptures that were once exhibited in Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe are now not only in the Town of Cottesloe but all over WA. One of the most important treasures for me is meeting a lot of Western Australian people through this exhibition."

Artist Profile - KEIZO USHIO 2008

Keizo Ushio is a significant Japanese artist who has enjoyed international success with his spectacular granite sculptures. Celebrated for his ingenious carving technique which is influenced by the mathematics of the Mobius Strip, Keizo has exhibited with Sculpture by the Sea since 1999 and has emerged as one of our most popular artists. Keizo was awarded the Allens Arthur Robinson People's Choice Prize in Sculpture by the Sea 2001.

Since a young age, Keizo has exercised his creative flair and graduated from the Kyoto City University of Arts. It was upon receiving the 1 st Henry Moore Grand Prix Exhibition Prize at the Hakone Open Air Museum in 1979 that Keizo developed his signature style of sculpting, while teaching Sculpture at Universities full time until 1993.

Sculpting with stone, Keizo produces geometrical forms that consider ideas of space and time, and consequently appear as eternal and monolithic in their own right. Keizo has achieved something of a celebrity status from mathematicians and sculptors alike for his magnificent manipulation of the 'Mobius Strip', typically known as a one-sided, one-edged surface, which is notoriously difficult to create with materials of great weight and density. Usually created by cutting a ring-like piece of granite horizontally and then making a 180-degree twist, Keizo extends this further by making a 360-degree twist, thereby creating a sculpture of two equal and interlocking parts (as seen in images 2 & 4) and a 540-degree twist, forming a sculpture of three equal and interlocking parts (as seen in images 3 & 5).

Keizo says of his work, "I want to tell a story of man's wisdom, exceeding both space and time. My sculpture is the proof of my existence."

One of the highlights of Keizo's career to date was the commission of ' Dream Lens' in 2003, in celebration of the 5 th anniversary of the Kobe Bridge construction in Japan. Titled ' Dream Lens' in acknowledgement of the first Kobe mayor, Dr Cyujiro Haraguchi's vision of a 'dream bridge', Keizo says, "My work is the lens by which we see this dream bridge and our dreams of the future."

Keizo has exhibited to international acclaim with his work represented in exhibitions, public locations and private collections in Japan, Spain, Iceland, Norway, Germany, Israel, India, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. Keizo's work has proved extremely popular with Australian collectors and has been sold in every Sculpture by the Sea exhibition since 1999. Sculpture by the Sea Art Services was recently delighted with yet another sale of his work, ' Twist II', an indoor sculpture exhibited in Sculpture Inside 2003, sold to a private collector.

Keizo's work is suited to both indoor and outdoor display and the density and weight of Keizo's granite sculptures make them ideal in terms of protection from weather and ease of maintenance.

Current Biography

Keizo Ushio lives and works in Japan. He is a significant Japanese sculptor who has achieved international success with his spectacular granite sculptures. Celebrated for his ingenious carving technique which is influenced by the mathematics of the Mobius Strip, Keizo has been exhibiting in Australia at Sculpture by the Sea exhibitions since 1999.

In 1979 he showed a work at the Hakone Open-Air Museum, where he was awarded the 1st Henry Moore Grand Prix Exhibition Prize. With this prize money, he toured through Europe, looking at sculpture.

Keizo has achieved something of a celebrity status among mathematicians and sculptors for his magnificent manipulation of the Mobius Strip, typically known as a one-sided, one-edged surface, which is notoriously difficult to create with materials of great weight and density. This reversed loop seems incompatible with the hardness of the stone, but it symbolizes and skillfully expresses the unity of a contrary nature and lies at the core of what makes his work so interesting. Keizo has been producing Mobius sculpture for over twenty-five years. His stone carving is recognized throughout the world for his mastery of the difficult technique of carving intertwining ribbons of stone and three-dimensional circles.

Keizo has exhibited to international acclaim around the world, with his work represented at exhibitions, and in public and private collections, in Japan, USA, Mexico, Spain, Iceland, Norway, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Holland, Israel, India, New Zealand and Australia.

In 2006 the artist was invited to Spain, to the International Congress of Mathematicians, to publicly produce a work over a three week period.

The market for his works in Australia has grown significantly over the last twenty years, making him a highly sought after and collectible artist. His works are exhibited not only as a public art in spaces such as the Esplanade Station in Perth and London Street in Canberra but also in major private collections including Vasse Felix in Margaret River.

Essay from Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe 2010 catalogue:
Keizo Ushio from Japan - Celebrating his 20th exhibition in Australia
Keizo Ushio is an extraordinary sculptor and a wonderful person, whose sculptures (and smile) are loved in many countries around the world.

This year's Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe marks Keizo's 20 th exhibition in Australia.

I had the pleasure of meeting Keizo in 1999, when he first exhibited in Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi. Keizo walked up to me with his big smile, bowed deeply and expressed his excitement and enthusiasm for exhibiting with us. Little did he know just how excited and enthusiastic we were that he was doing so! Since then Keizo has been in every one of our exhibitions in various parts of Australia, playing a major role in their artistic and popular success. He has also learned that in Australia it is not necessary to bow!

Whatever subtle and not so subtle cultural differences there may be between Japan and Australia, Keizo's exquisite sculptures immediately reached out, 'speaking' an international language which intrigued and delighted Australians from the first moment they saw them. It is his ingenious combination of the mathematical concept of the Mobius strip, when carved from a single block of granite that captures the imagination. His sculptures are soft and beautiful, yet at the same time hard and impossible for most to understand how they were created.

It was from his very first exhibition with us at Bondi that I became aware of the special connection between Keizo's sculptures and the viewer. Although he was excited by the large crowds seeing his sculpture, Keizo was concerned; he had overheard many parents telling their children, "Don't touch the sculpture!", as they tried to reach out to touch and run their hands over the granite curves. So Keizo walked into our office and asked if we could make a sign and place it next to his sculpture saying, "Please touch the sculpture". Within a few days the grass around his sculpture had been worn through, revealing the path many thousands of people had trodden as they ran their hands over the granite, tracing its unbroken line. At the end of the exhibition, Keizo came back into the office saying, "My sculpture is very happy, many people touch my sculpture. I am very happy because my sculpture is happy!"

Since this time Keizo's sculptures have made many people very happy. He has been voted the People's Choice Prize winner in several of our exhibitions and his sculptures have been acquired by some of the most noted private sculpture collections in Australia, while the City of Perth's acquisition is one of several in public collections across the country.

When Keizo first exhibited in Australia Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi was in just its third year and we were a very small organisation, with very limited resources. Yet, despite his international reputation Keizo embraced our exhibition, seeing it's potential, reveling in the large crowds and enjoying meeting artists from around the world. So he returned the next year and each year after that, winning over many fans. Over this time Keizo's sculptures have evolved to explore different shapes and to use colour - something he was motivated to do by the stronger light he noticed in Australia when compared to Japan.

Keizo's enthusiasm for our exhibitions and his generous spirit led him to share the experience of exhibiting in Sculpture by the Sea with his close colleagues in Japan and each year since 2001 he has introduced new Japanese sculptors to the people visiting our Perth and Sydney exhibitions. The selflessness with which Keizo has adopted this role of facilitator has played a tremendous part in the growth and success of the Sculpture by the Sea exhibitions, so much so, that we call him our Ambassador to Japan.

Talking of diplomatic relations, one of the happy coincidental connections between Keizo and Western Australia is that his home province, or Prefecture, Hyogo, has a sister State relationship with Western Australia. This led Keizo to work with the City of Asago in Hyogo and well known Perth sculptor Ron Gomboc to establish an artist exchange between Asago and Perth in 2008. Featuring a major exhibition of primarily WA sculptors at the Asago Sculpture Park as well as an artist in residence program that resulted in Ron Gomboc and Richie Kuhaupt from Perth working in Asago and artists from Hyogo, such Koichi Ogino, working at the Gomboc Gallery and Sculpture Park.

It is due to Keizo's reputation as a sculptor both at home and internationally and his work promoting Japanese artists abroad that he was recently awarded the Hyogo Prefectural Culture Prize. This is a major honour and one not usually bestowed until much later in an artists life.

From all of us at Sculpture by the Sea, we would like to thank Keizo for his sculpture, his smile, his support and his friendship. He is a man who has contributed a lot to the world.

David Handley
Founding Director
Sculpture by the Sea

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
DOUBLE DECADE CLUB ARTIST - KEIZO USHIO: - Sculpture by the Sea

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We offer our congratulations to Keizo Ushio, who is the second artist to become a member of the Double Decade Club for Sculpture by the Sea at Bondi, having exhibited 20 times since 1999. Keizo Ushio is one of Japan's most highly regarded sculptors and is renowned internationally for his extraordinary granite sculptures.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Underwater Sculpture by Jason deCaires Taylor

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Process - Underwater Sculpture by Jason deCaires Taylor