2023
2nd Place recipient
Jason deCaires Taylor
Jason deCaires Taylor creates underwater worlds. Haunting enigmatic living art installations submerged beneath the waves. He has become one of the first artists to re-conceptualise the underwater realm as a public art space and, due to his explorations, has been described as the Jacques Cousteau of the art world. Taylor gained international recognition in 2006 with the installation of the world’s first underwater sculpture park, situated in the West Indies off the coast of Grenada. It was subsequently listed by National Geographic as one of the Top 25 Wonders of the World.
Since then, working with local communities, Taylor has gone on to create a network of “Underwater Museums” throughout the world. These publicly accessible artworks are visited by thousands of visitors each week and explore modern themes such as climate emergency, migration and sustainable futures. Using bio-receptive, environmentally sensitive materials that instigate organic growth, the sculptural works evolve, develop and metaphorize in new hybrid forms. In this way, they contribute to the regeneration of marine ecosystems, serving as a poignant reminder not only of our species’ vulnerability but also of our essential interconnectedness with the natural world.
