National Windrush monument unveiled at London Waterloo Station

Basil Watson, CD (born 1958), is a Jamaican sculptor. He is the son of painter

Barrington Watson Basil Barrington Watson (9 January 1931 – 26 January 2016) was a Jamaican painter. Biography Born in 1931 January 9th in Lucea, Barrington Watson made his original mark in Jamaica as a football player for Kingston College. However, he ultima ...

,Housen, Claudine.
'Balance' on the Beach
", ''The Jamaica Gleaner'', 26 November 2006. and the brother of sculptor Raymond Watson.
" ''The Jamaica Gleaner'', 16 October 2009. He was honoured with the

Order of Distinction The Order of Distinction is a national order in the Jamaican honours system. It is the sixth in order of precedence of the Orders of Societies of Honour, which were instituted by an Act of Parliament (''The National Honours and Awards Act'') i ...

, Commander Class, in 2016, in recognition of his artistic accomplishments.Outstanding Jamaicans Honoured at King's House
, Jamaica Information Service, 18 October 2005. Watson completed a sculpture entitled "Balance" in November 2006, which was installed at Doctor's Cave Bathing Club in

Montego Bay Montego Bay is the capital of the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of Saint James Parish, Jamaica, St. James in Jamaica. The city is the fourth-largest urban area in the country by population, after Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Spanish Town, and Por ...

, in honour of the club's centennial. Meant to depict the harmony between man and woman, the sculpture is of a standing nude man with one arm outstretched over his head, and an inverted nude woman balancing on one hand, with her hand supported by the man's upraised hand. In total, it is 15 feet tall. In December of that same year, he completed a statue of sprinter

Merlene Ottey Merlene Joyce Ottey (born 10 May 1960) is a Jamaican-Slovenian former track and field sprinter. She began her career representing Jamaica in 1978, and continued to do so for 24 years, before representing Slovenia from 2002 to 2012. She is ran ...

, which was installed at Jamaica's

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

."Ottey Honoured with Statue".
Jamaicans.com, 9 January 2006. The bronze sculpture, which is eight feet tall and weighs seven hundred pounds, depicts a running Ottey reaching for the sky with her right hand. Prime Minister P. J. Patterson presided over the statue's dedication. Another work of Watson's was added to National Stadium in November 2009, when Prime Minister

Bruce Golding Orette Bruce Golding (born 5 December 1947) is a former Jamaican politician who served as eighth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 11 September 2007 to 23 October 2011. He is a member of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), which he led from 2005 to h ...

unveiled his sculpture of sprinter

Herb McKenley The Hon. Herbert Henry McKenley OM (10 July 1922 – 26 November 2007) was a Jamaican track and field sprinter. He competed at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics in six events in total, and won one gold and three silver medals. Born in Pleasant Vall ...

."McKenley statue to be unveiled tomorrow"
''The Jamaica Gleaner'', 24 November 2009. Watson described the task as an "honour" and a "privilege", citing the esteem in which he held McKenley. He said that when designing the work, he drew from multiple images of McKenley created at different times in his life, in order to bridge the gap between McKenley's youthful accomplishments and his popular renown in his old age. Works by both Basil Watson and his son Kai, a painter, were exhibited in New York at the fifth annual "Art Off the Main" exposition in October 2008, sponsored by the Savacou Gallery."Caribbean art showcases at NY exhibition"
''The Jamaica Gleaner'', 26 October 2008. That December, Watson was added to the list of artists invited to provide works for the

National Gallery of Jamaica The National Gallery of Jamaica, in Kingston, Jamaica, is Jamaica's public art museum. It was established in 1974 and is located in the Kingston Mall, a commercial and cultural center on Kingston harbour. The National Gallery of Jamaica also has ...

's National Biennial exhibition."The 2008 Jamaica National Biennial, December 14, 2008, Jamaica"
Jamaicans.com, 10 December 2008. He was chosen from four finalists to create the United Kingdom's National

Windrush Windrush may refer to: Places in England * Windrush Square, precinct in south London * River Windrush, a river in Gloucestershire * Windrush, Gloucestershire, a village in Gloucestershire ** RAF Windrush, a Royal Air Force station in World War II ...

Monument, which was unveiled at London Waterloo Station in June 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Basil 1958 births Living people 20th-century Jamaican sculptors 20th-century male artists 21st-century Jamaican sculptors Members of the Order of Jamaica Jamaican artists