For Immediate Release · 2022
Ken Kelleher’s Back in the Saddle Again Installed Aboard Wonder of the Seas
The six-meter mirror stainless steel sculpture brings monumental contemporary art to a global audience at sea.
At Sea
INTERNATIONAL — Internationally recognized sculptor Ken Kelleher, also known as Anchorball, has announced the completion, installation or presentation of Back in the Saddle, a major project from his expanding international practice.
Back in the Saddle Again is a six-meter mirror-finish stainless steel sculpture created for Royal Caribbean's Wonder of the Seas and installed in 2022 with the team from Legacy Landmarks.
Part of Kelleher's Elemental practice, the work brings a monumental, highly reflective sculptural presence into one of the most visited environments in the world, giving passengers a distinctive landmark and meeting point.
The installation demonstrates the reach of Kelleher’s work in a high-traffic global environment. For cruise lines, hospitality groups and experiential developers, it shows how monumental sculpture can become a meeting point, photographic landmark and enduring part of a guest journey.
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Placing a monumental work at sea means it will be seen by millions of people from every corner of the world. That reach is extraordinary — a sculpture becomes part of a memory people carry home.— Ken Kelleher (aka Anchorball)
The project forms part of Kelleher’s broader practice across Luminal Pop and Elemental sculpture, spanning monumental public art, private collections, institutional commissions, destination placemaking and artist-led cultural activations. Across these contexts, Kelleher develops works that are immediately recognizable while retaining the material ambition, authorship and permanence required of serious contemporary sculpture.
For collectors, galleries and cultural institutions, the work reflects a practice at an important point of international development. Kelleher’s sculptures are now established across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, with projects ranging from unique private commissions and tightly controlled editions to major architectural installations and public-facing cultural experiences.
For developers, hospitality groups and brand partners, the project demonstrates how original contemporary art can create identity, emotional connection and long-term cultural value. Rather than operating as decoration, Kelleher’s work is conceived to become a defining image of its setting: a landmark, gathering point and visual memory that audiences associate directly with the place.
