According to News, Jason deCaires Taylor stated, “I don’t strive for my artwork to cause division or upset.” However, I do make an effort to discuss topics that are pertinent to the times we live in.
Although the 50-year-old artist has a history of creating political art, he claims that this piece, which is based on the painting that served as the model for Shakespeare’s tragic heroine Ophelia, has “no political intentions at all.”
The Alluvia, which was erected in the River Stour near Taylor’s hometown of Canterbury, Kent, is constructed of recycled glass and steel and has LED lighting that turns on at night.
However, criticism of the piece for being “offensive” and “tone-deaf” has been made in comments made on Canterbury City Council’s official Facebook page.
I can’t be the only person who finds this extremely disrespectful, someone else wrote. She appears to be a drowning woman. How could the council have missed the connection between female victims of crime and the tragic reality that so many refugees drown off the coast of Kent?
