Lloyd Goradesky's monumental floating art installation

Gator in the Bay

A giant alligator on Biscayne Bay, made from photography, recycled materials, steel, engineering, and a message for the Everglades.

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Nearly 300 ft. from snout to tail when the full body is assembled

102 tiles floating art panels forming the gator's body

100,000+ Everglades images in the photo mosaic artwork

30,000 lb. steel head mounted on a working barge

Art, ecology, spectacle

A public artwork with a conservation heartbeat

Gator in the Bay was created by artist and photographer Lloyd Goradesky to draw attention to the Florida Everglades. At a distance, the installation reads as an enormous alligator moving through the water. Up close, its body becomes a field of photographic detail: Everglades images transformed into a floating mosaic.

The work has appeared around Art Basel Miami Beach and Biscayne Bay, where it merges public art, maritime logistics, and the visual language of South Florida wildlife.

The Gator in the Bay installation floating across Biscayne Bay

On the water

Cruising the Gator

Close view of the gator mouth on the water

Gator in the Bay with palm trees in the background

Floating tile art

The body is a photo mosaic

The gator's body is built from buoyant four-by-eight-foot art tiles. Each panel carries thousands of small Everglades photographs, arranged so the whole installation resolves into alligator skin when seen from the distance of the bay.

These tiles give the project its second life: they can stand alone as collectible works while still belonging to the larger environmental message.

Built for the bay

Part sculpture, part vessel, part machine

The head was fabricated around a barge and engineered so the mouth could open and close on the water. Press coverage described a Caterpillar excavator inside the structure controlling both the jaw and the barge.

The barge that became the base of the gator head — Barge foundation

Mechanical design drawing for Gator in the Bay — Mechanical design

Engineering views of the Gator in the Bay head — All views

Commemorative works

Posters and editions

In the news

Press and references

NPR / KAWC Big Gator Head Premieres At Miami Art Fair Miami New Times Gator in the Bay: Giant Art Invades Miami Equipment World Gator in the Bay: Art meets excavator Lloydsite Gator in the Bay project archive

Exhibition inquiries

Bring the Gator back to the water

For installations, press, licensing, or collectible artwork, explore more work by Lloyd Goradesky or visit goradeskyart.com.

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