by The artist who created a sculpture called “disturbing” and “shocking” says he is “surprised” by the backlash but welcomes the difficult conversations it could spark.
Jason deCaires Taylor told Sky News: “I don’t go out of my way to divide or upset people.
The 50-year-old artist has a history of producing political work but says this one had “no political intent at all” and is based on the painting that inspired ShakespeareOphelia is a tragic heroine.
The Alluvia – which is made of recycled glass and steel and has LED lights that glow at night – was installed in the River Stour, in Taylor’s home town of Canterbury in Kent about a week ago.
However, comments posted on Canterbury City Council’s official Facebook page include allegations that the work is “tone-deaf” and “offensive”.
One of them wrote: “I can’t be the only one who finds this very offensive. She looks like a drowned woman. How could the council not see the connection with women being victims of crime or the sad fact that so many drowned off the coast of Kent as refugees.”
Another said: “I find this statue absolutely appalling. It’s not only offensive, it’s deeply disturbing. The imagery of a drowned figure, reminiscent of a drowning victim, is both sickening and deafening because the tragic drownings that happen along our coasts. What on earth was the council thinking?”
Others took issue with the work, with one commenting: “Seems more people are “intrigued”, “oiled” and “offended” by this than by images of actual drownings happening. daily on our shores. I hate artwork designed to inspire, why not channel some of that energy into something constructive?”
Another wrote: “It’s a beautiful piece of art and nowhere near as disturbing as the previous statues that replaced it. What kind of world do we live in when anything that offends or “provocates” someone has to be removed??”
The sculpture replaced two similar female forms, also created by Taylor, which had been in the water since 2008 but had been damaged by dredging.
‘If it fosters care and compassion, that’s good’
Taylor told Sky News: “I was surprised… 99.9% of all the feedback I got was very positive… But at the same time, I understand that everyone takes something different from everything they see.”
Although he says there is “no connection” between the work and the ongoing migrant crisis further along the Kent coast, he hopes it will inspire sympathy for what is happening in the English Channel.
He said: “It’s a very tragic situation, and I don’t think ignoring it is the solution. If [this work] able to develop any kind of care and compassion for that situation, I think that’s a good thing.”
More than 21,000 people arrived in the UK in small boats between January and September, according to government figures, with at least 45 people dying in Channel crossings this year.
Taylor added that the subject is a young woman as it draws reference from Sir John Everett Millais’ famous painting, which is on display at Tate Britain.
‘Art without questions is useless’
Some of Taylor’s previous sculptures have raised questions about the climate crisis, Brexit and the plight of those who risk their lives on the dangerous migration route from West Africa to Spain.
Taylor says: “Art should ask questions. They should make people think about things that should evoke emotions, which is really important.
“If you ignored things and tried to please everyone with all your artwork, I think you would do something very benign and frankly, without attention.”
He also believes that our age of information overload may be part of the reason for the negative feedback.
“We’re so inundated with images and media, with our phones interrupting us and screens everywhere we see people looking for divisions and things that cause clickbait. I think there’s an element of people looking for controversy.”
Taylor said most of the negative comments online came from people who hadn’t been to Canterbury and seen the work in real life, with one call to remove the statue coming all the way from Orkney.
Responding directly to calls for his work to be taken out of the river, he said: “People are fine to have their rights. [an] opinion. But I would advise them to go and see it first.”
‘A dead body does not burn at night’
The Chairman of the Canterbury Commemorative Society, Stewart Ross, the charity which commissioned the work, told Sky News: “It is offensive and shocking to some people, we have no objection to that. All public art is open to discussion”.
Comparing calls to abolish the work to the destruction of art during the Reformation, he said: “I feel strongly about this [call for censorship]. That’s what the Taliban do. If you don’t like it, don’t watch.”
Mr Ross said the “pent-up anger” around the statue was “unnecessary” and the charity was “trying to do its best”, adding: “People are comparing it to a dead body, but it’s not I have met dead yet. a body that lights up at night”.
Taylor, who has been working as an artist for over 25 years, has sculptures in marine locations around the world including Australia, Mexico, Grenada and Norway. Prices for his sculpture start at around £1,300.
He first presented the two original Alluvia figures to the city of Canterbury in 2008.
