Fueled by an abiding concern with environmental crisis for more than three decades, contemporary artist Alexis Rockman (b. 1962) depicts an ominous and complex vision of ocean life affected by humankind in a monumental new series titled Oceanus.

Alexis Rockman: Oceanus takes the viewer on a global journey of discovery beneath the world’s changing seas, through the artist’s ethereal and sublime renderings of real and imaginary marine life within a fragile ecosystem. Published to accompany an ambitious traveling exhibition in North America and abroad, this volume documents Rockman’s newly executed 8 x 24-foot panoramic painting Oceanus and ten related large watercolors, important works that tell the story of humanity’s indelible relationship with the ocean and the connections between the sea and our own survival, as the artist deftly weaves natural history, art history, archaeology, adventure, political analysis, and science into a story about the human condition. Complementing this stunning presentation of Rockman’s paintings—as well as many details and photographs documenting the artist’s process, along with a rich selection of contextual imagery—are essays by leading writers and scholars on such topics as maritime and oceanic history and Rockman’s work within the larger context of art history.

Robert Ballard is president of the Ocean Exploration Trust and director of the Center for Ocean Exploration, Graduate School of Oceanography, at the University of Rhode Island. Christina Brophy is Senior Director of Museum Galleries and Senior Vice President of Curatorial Affairs at the Mystic Seaport Museum. James T. Carlton is Professor of Marine Sciences Emeritus at Williams College. Helen M. Rozwadowski is professor of history and founder of the Maritime Studies program at the University of Connecticut, Avery Point. Nari Ward is a New York–based artist. Michael Harrison is chief curator and Obed Macy Research Chair at the Nantucket Historical Association.