Most of Her Is Still Underwater (8 Photos)

Eight giants that chose a spot on the water

A canal, a lake, a river, a beach and the seabed. Each of these sculptures sits right where land meets water, and the water does half the work: it reflects them, laps at them or hides most of the body.

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🏊 “Die Badende” (The Bather) — By Oliver Voss in Hamburg, Germany 🇩🇪

Only her head and a knee break the surface, and the rest is left to the imagination. Oliver Voss’s bather lay in the Inner Alster in front of Ballindamm for nine days in August 2011. His project documentation gives her a length of 20.45 meters and a height of almost 4 meters.

💡 Build Fact: She weighed only about two tonnes. Peter Ardelt’s workshop built her from polystyrene, steel and fiberglass on pontoons, so she floated rather than stood.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsDie Badende — Oliver Voss, HamburgOliver Voss · 2011 · Hamburg, Germany20.45 m longAbout 2 tonnesFunded by Soap & Glory1Figure builder Peter Ardelt made her in his Dresden workshop from the design by Voss and his team.Oliver Voss — project documentation2Three hollow floating parts make the bather: a steel cage clad in polystyrene blocks, sealed with polyester resin.Oliver Voss — project documentation20112 AugPress release: settles off Ballindamm20113 AugHamburg Web: in place since Tuesday20117 AugTIME: to be craned out 12 Aug201111 Augdpa: sections dismantled201112 AugDie Welt: taken apart for storageRead the full file →

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🤲 “Support” — By Lorenzo Quinn in Venice, Italy 🇮🇹

Two hands come up out of the Grand Canal and hold the wall of Ca’ Sagredo, while gondolas wait below the wrists. Quinn made Support for the 2017 Venice Biennale. He said the city is threatened by climate change and time decay, and the hands were his way of showing it needs help.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsSupport — Lorenzo Quinn, VeniceLorenzo Quinn · 2017 · Venice, Italy2017 Venice BiennaleModelled on his son’s hands27 ft tall (Axios)1Quinn said Venice needs the support of our generation and future ones, because climate change and time decay threaten it.Creative Boom2According to Finestre sull’Arte, the heritage authority set dismantling for 30 April 2018, after several extensions past the Biennale’s close.Finestre sull’Arte201714 MayNew work · Finestre sull’Arte201713 AugPhoto on Commons201710 OctPhoto on Commons201820 AprDismantling due · Finestre201830 AprOut by 7 May · Finestre201830 JunSpot taken · FinestreRead the full file →

More: The story behind Support

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🗿 “Statue of Unity” — By Ram V. Sutar in Kevadia, Gujarat, India 🇮🇳

Even from across the river, the bridge below looks like a thin line. Ram V. Sutar’s figure of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel stands 182 meters tall by the Narmada River, near the Sardar Sarovar Dam. It opened on October 31, 2018, Patel’s 143rd birth anniversary.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsStatue of Unity — Ram V. Sutar, KevadiaRam V. Sutar · 2018 · KevadiaGujarat182 metresOpened 20181Its 182-metre height reflects Gujarat’s 182 assembly constituencies.Michael Graves2A viewing gallery sits 153 metres above the ground.Press Information Bureau201831 OctDedicated to the nation at Kevadia: official ceremony record20265 OctGujarat Tourism page updated; not a dated photograph or inspectionRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Himanshu Pandya

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🤫 “Water’s Soul” — By Jaume Plensa in Jersey City, USA 🇺🇸

A white head with a finger to its lips stands on the Newport waterfront, facing Manhattan across the Hudson. Plensa’s gallery gives its height as 80 feet, about 24 meters. The artist writes that it is asking us for a bit of silence; it opened to the public on October 21, 2021.

💡 Build Fact: It is made of 108 interlocking sections over a stainless steel skeleton. They were first assembled in Plensa’s Barcelona studio, then taken apart, shipped and rebuilt in Newport.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsWater’s Soul by Jaume Plensa, Newport waterfront, Jersey City, New Jersey, USAJaume Plensa · 2020 · Jersey City, USAOpened 2021Jersey CityHudson River1The artist dates it 2020, but its public opening was on 21 October 2021.Jaume Plensa — project record2The construction record describes 108 sections, assembled in Barcelona before being dismantled, shipped and rebuilt at Newport.Water’s Soul — construction record2019CommissionLeFrak and Simon commission the work202119 OctReuters publishes its artist interview202121 OctPublic opening recorded by the artist20261 JanPhotographed by Eduardo Muñoz202620 JulLocal report names the existing waterfront work2026AugKimTravels525 publishes a July visit reportRead the full file →

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🐴 “The Kelpies” — By Andy Scott in Falkirk, Scotland, UK 🇬🇧

Lit up at dusk, the two horse heads double in the canal basin at their feet. Andy Scott’s Kelpies stand 30 meters tall beside the Forth & Clyde Canal in Falkirk, built from stainless and painted mild steel.

💡 Heritage Fact: They honor the working horses that once pulled barges along Scotland’s canals and worked the fields where the sculptures now stand.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsThe Kelpies sculptures by Andy Scott, The Helix, Falkirk, ScotlandAndy Scott · 2013 · Falkirk, Scotland30 metres tallStainless & mild steelTwo Clydesdales1Duke and Baron visited Andy Scott’s Glasgow studio; the sculptures inherited the two Clydesdales’ names.The Scottish Banner2The engineers specified a milled stainless-steel finish to limit glare toward drivers on the nearby M9 motorway.Ingenia201327 NovCompletion reported202430 AprAnniversary visit report20262 SepCouncil site-visit reportRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Jonathan Combe / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

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🌊 “Ocean Atlas” — By Jason deCaires Taylor in Nassau, The Bahamas 🇧🇸

The snorkeler above looks tiny next to her face. Ocean Atlas is a kneeling girl, modeled on a local Bahamian, who carries the surface of the sea on her shoulders. She rises about five meters from the seabed off western New Providence and was installed in 2014.

💡 Reef Fact: At about 60 tons, she was cast from pH-neutral marine cement to work as an artificial reef where marine life can settle, and to draw tourists away from the natural reefs nearby.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsOcean Atlas — Jason deCaires Taylor, NassauJason deCaires Taylor · 2014 · Nassau, The BahamasCommissioned by BREEF5 m deepAbout 60 tons1According to the artist, it was assembled underwater in sections, using a technique he developed, because of its sheer scale.Jason deCaires Taylor2Guinness World Records lists it as joint tallest underwater figurative sculpture, at 5 meters, tied with Anthozoa on the Great Barrier Reef.Guinness World Records201420 OctInstalled this month, Colossal reports201820 MayVideo still on Commons (upload date)202323 JanReporter writes after diving at the statue2024Jun10th anniversary; covered in living coral20265 MayLady of Coral added beside it20263 JunReported a short swim from Lady of CoralRead the full file →

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🖐️ “La Mano” — By Mario Irarrázabal in Punta del Este, Uruguay 🇺🇾

Someone sits on the thumb, and the other fingers still tower over her. Mario Irarrázabal built the hand on Playa Brava in 1982, during an open-air sculpture meeting in Punta del Este. He meant it as a drowning hand, a warning to swimmers.

💡 Place Fact: It is the only sculpture from that 1982 meeting still on the beach. Irarrázabal later made the better-known Mano del Desierto in Chile’s Atacama Desert.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsLa Mano — Mario Irarrázabal, Punta del EsteMario Irarrázabal · 1982 · Punta del Este, UruguayBuilt in summer 1982Playa Brava, Parada 1Over 2.5 m tall (Andante)1Irarrázabal titled it Hombre emergiendo a la vida; in Punta del Este it is also called La Mano, Los Dedos or Monumento al Ahogado.Andante2In January 2025 a woman was detained for spray-painting the fingers; according to El Debate, the mayor put repairs at about 170,000 pesos.El Debate1982FebBuilt at the open-air sculpture meeting199915 MayPhotographed, still plain gray2003First painted, by Marcelo Morillas201310 OctPhotographed on Playa Brava2015AugStreet View panorama201831 OctPhotographed with a new boardwalk20202 JanPainted for 48 hours before restoration202516 JanNight a woman sprayed graffiti on it20261 JunMunicipal talk on the sculptureMore photos1999 Still plain gray, before it was first paintedPhoto: Diego Tirira / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)2018 A wooden boardwalk beside the fingersPhoto: Balou46 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), faces of two bystanders blurredRead the full file →

📷 Photo: M M / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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✋ “The Awakening” — By J. Seward Johnson Jr. at National Harbor, Maryland, USA 🇺🇸

A giant pushes his way out of the sand on the Potomac waterfront, while the Capital Wheel turns behind him. National Harbor describes the 72-foot cast-aluminum figure as five separate pieces. The Seward Johnson Atelier dates the work to 1980.

💡 History Fact: It first lay at Hains Point in Washington, D.C., and moved to National Harbor in February 2008.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsThe Awakening — J. Seward Johnson Jr., National HarborJ. Seward Johnson Jr. · 1980 · National Harbor, Maryland72 feet (National Harbor)Five aluminum piecesAt Hains Point until 20081National Harbor says a specially built beach was created along the Potomac so visitors could interact with the sculpture.National Harbor2According to Old Town Crier, the giant recovered from shin surgery in August 2024, its first repair since its purchase.Old Town Crier20079 MarVisitor tip: still at Hains Point200819 FebPhotographed at Hains Point200820 FebDCist: moved to National Harbor20166 MayPhotographed with beach under water20241 AprShin repair announced20241 OctReport: shin repaired in August202516 NovPhotographed at nightMore photos2008 At Hains Point, just before the movePhoto: William F. Yurasko / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)2016 Beach under water at National HarborPhoto: Mary Murchison-Edwords / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)Read the full file →