Hew Locke
Encyclopedia
Hew Donald Joseph Locke (born on 13 October 1959 in Edinburgh) is a sculptor
and contemporary British visual artist based in London.
, before returning to the UK to study. He received a B.A. Fine Art in 1988 from Falmouth College of Art, and an M.A. Sculpture from the Royal College of Art
, London in 1994. In 1995 he married curator Indra Khanna. He is represented by Hales Gallery
, London.
Award and installed Hemmed In Two as part of the contemporary arts programme at the Victoria and Albert Museum
, London. This was followed by the creation of Cardboard Palace, a major new installation for his solo show at the Chisenhale Gallery, London (2002).
(2005), Rivington Place
, London (2008), ArtSway, Hampshire (2011), Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort, the Netherlands (2011) and Hales Gallery, London (2005, 2008, 2010). His works are included in major group shows, such as Holy Toy Sølvberget Galleri, Stavanger, Norway (2010), The 2nd Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art, Greece (2009), South South Justina M. Barnincke Gallery, University of Toronto, Canada (2009), Infinite Island: Contemporary Caribbean Art Brooklyn Museum
, USA (2007), British Art Show
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Gateshead (2005) and Barrocos y Neobarrocos Salamanca, Spain (2005).
, The Tate
Gallery, The Arts Council England
, The Victoria and Albert Museum
, The British Museum
and The Henry Moore Institute. In the USA they include The Collection of Eileen and Peter Norton, Santa Monica, The Brooklyn Museum and The Arnold Lehman Collection, New York, and The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
, Kansas City.
for the launch of their New Media Village building, subsequently installed on the façade of Tate Britain
, and produced using a 4m high steel frame and thousands of plastic flowers and tinsel. He was one of the artists commissioned to design flags for the 2nd San Juan Triennial, Puerto Rico (2009) which were manufactured and flown over venues. Ruined (2010) is a permanent installation of ten 1.75m cast-iron markers in Brunswick Square Cemetery Gardens, Bristol. For those in Peril on the Sea (2011) was commissioned for installation in the Church of St Mary & St Eanswythe as part of the Folkestone Triennale, and consisted of a 'fleet' of customised model boats suspended above the nave.
. He has demonstrated an especial interest in working around sites and ideas with a historical resonance. He has cited architecture ranging from the Baroque
, Rajput
, Islamic, and Caribbean vernacular to Victorian Funfairs as influences. Recurrent themes and imagery include visual expressions of power, trophies, globalisation, movement of peoples, the creation of cultures, ships and boats, and packaging.
Locke felt dogged in his early career by misreadings of his work.
"It was seen as being from a folk tradition, not as being of its own tradition, true to itself - as art basically...I stopped making work in colour for three years, I just dropped it"
Curator Kris Kuramitsu wrote of the genesis of Hemmed In Two and Cardboard Palace -
"Frustrated by the fact that his biography so heavily over-determines the reading of his work, he created a series of sculptures in which he used cardboard to preemptively package the work for the viewer. This move was revelatory for Locke's practice, as through this material he could metonymically address migration, international economics, globalisation and ideas about personal and cultural protection and projection".
Locke continued - "Then I started making fake Voodoo dolls: basically fake exotica. And that developed into the Voodoo Royal Family. I started to have fun with that question that all through the 90s had really annoyed me: 'Where do you come from?' i.e. 'You're not one of us. What are you?' "
His ongoing series House of Windsor began as portraits of members of the British royal family
, but now exclusively uses a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II for a symbolic framework. He has stated "My feelings about the Royal Family are ambivalent. I am simply fascinated by the institution and its relationship to the press and public. My political position is neither republican nor monarchist."
Locke's investigation in the display of Power has expanded into new areas such as royal and swagger portraiture, coats-of-arms, public statuary, trophies, masculinity, company share certificates, weaponry and costume. He states - "This ...(is) essentially about Power – who had it, who has it and who desires it".
Impossible Proposals is an over arching title for series of works related to public statuary that include Natives and Colonials, Restoration and Sikandar. "It started as a proposal to get a statue-dressing project off the ground. Nobody was willing to take this project up, so the proposals...became the artwork...things I would never be allowed to do".
Prof. Ingrid von Rosenberg has written -
"(Black) Artists who continue to produce work with a critical message, like Yinka Shonibare
and Hew Locke, avoid the open confrontation typical of the 1980s and instead use humour and satire, positioning themselves as cultural insiders, rather than excluded outsiders"
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
and contemporary British visual artist based in London.
Background
Locke is the eldest son of Guyanese sculptor Donald Locke (1930–2010) and British painter Leila Chaplin (d. 1992). He spent his formative years (1966 to 1980) in Georgetown, GuyanaGeorgetown, Guyana
Georgetown, estimated population 239,227 , is the capital and largest city of Guyana, located in the Demerara-Mahaica region. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean coast at the mouth of the Demerara River and it was nicknamed 'Garden City of the Caribbean.' Georgetown is located at . The city serves...
, before returning to the UK to study. He received a B.A. Fine Art in 1988 from Falmouth College of Art, and an M.A. Sculpture from the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
, London in 1994. In 1995 he married curator Indra Khanna. He is represented by Hales Gallery
Hales Gallery
Hales Gallery is an art gallery in east London and represents a number of young British artists. The gallery was founded by Paul Hedge and Paul Maslin in 1992, and successfully launched the careers of a number of emerging British artists at that time, including Jake and Dinos Chapman, Mike Nelson...
, London.
Career
Locke first came to national attention in 2000 when he won both a Paul Hamlyn Award and the EASTinternationalEASTinternational
EASTinternational is an open submission exhibition that was launched in 1991 and takes place at the Norwich University College of the Arts. Applications from over 1,000 contemporary artists are received each year with approximately 25-30 artists selected to exhibit...
Award and installed Hemmed In Two as part of the contemporary arts programme at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
, London. This was followed by the creation of Cardboard Palace, a major new installation for his solo show at the Chisenhale Gallery, London (2002).
Exhibitions
Since then, he has exhibited widely, with solo shows at venues including Luckman Gallery, California State University (2004), The Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, USA (2004), Walsall Art GalleryWalsall Art Gallery
The New Art Gallery Walsall is a modern and contemporary art gallery sited in the centre of the West Midlands town of Walsall, England. It was built with £21 million of public funding, including £15.75 million from the UK National Lottery and additional money from the European Regional Development...
(2005), Rivington Place
Rivington Place
Rivington Place was built by Iniva and Autograph ABP as the major visual arts centre in Shoreditch, London, to reflect and promote cultural diversity in the visual arts....
, London (2008), ArtSway, Hampshire (2011), Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort, the Netherlands (2011) and Hales Gallery, London (2005, 2008, 2010). His works are included in major group shows, such as Holy Toy Sølvberget Galleri, Stavanger, Norway (2010), The 2nd Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art, Greece (2009), South South Justina M. Barnincke Gallery, University of Toronto, Canada (2009), Infinite Island: Contemporary Caribbean Art Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an encyclopedia art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum holds New York City's second largest art collection with roughly 1.5 million works....
, USA (2007), British Art Show
British Art Show
The British Art Show is a major survey exhibition organised every five years to showcase contemporary British Art. The current exhibition in the series, referred to as BAS6, is touring a number of major cities within England in 2005 and 2006. Each time it is organised, the show tours to three UK...
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Baltic
-Northern Europe:* The Baltic Sea* Baltic states : Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia* The Baltic region, an ambiguous term referring to the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea...
Gateshead (2005) and Barrocos y Neobarrocos Salamanca, Spain (2005).
Collections
In Britain these include The Government Art CollectionGovernment Art Collection
The United Kingdom's Government Art Collection places works of art in major Government buildings in the UK and around the world to promote British art, culture and history....
, The Tate
Tate
-Places:*Tate, Georgia, a town in the United States*Tate County, Mississippi, a county in the United States*Táté, the Hungarian name for Totoi village, Sântimbru Commune, Alba County, Romania*Tate, Filipino word for States...
Gallery, The Arts Council England
Arts Council England
Arts Council England was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales. It is a non-departmental public body of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport...
, The Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
, The British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
and The Henry Moore Institute. In the USA they include The Collection of Eileen and Peter Norton, Santa Monica, The Brooklyn Museum and The Arnold Lehman Collection, New York, and The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art opened in 1994 in Kansas City, Missouri. The core of the museum's permanent collection is the Bebe and R. Crosby Kemper Jr. Collection, a gift of the museum's founders. The collection includes works created after the 1913 Armory Show to works by present-day...
, Kansas City.
Public Art
These include King Creole (2004), commissioned by the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
for the launch of their New Media Village building, subsequently installed on the façade of Tate Britain
Tate Britain
Tate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London, and part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, opening in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.-History:It...
, and produced using a 4m high steel frame and thousands of plastic flowers and tinsel. He was one of the artists commissioned to design flags for the 2nd San Juan Triennial, Puerto Rico (2009) which were manufactured and flown over venues. Ruined (2010) is a permanent installation of ten 1.75m cast-iron markers in Brunswick Square Cemetery Gardens, Bristol. For those in Peril on the Sea (2011) was commissioned for installation in the Church of St Mary & St Eanswythe as part of the Folkestone Triennale, and consisted of a 'fleet' of customised model boats suspended above the nave.
Works and Themes
Locke uses a wide range of media, including painting, drawing, photography, relief, fabric, sculpture and casting, and makes extensive use of found objects and collageCollage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
. He has demonstrated an especial interest in working around sites and ideas with a historical resonance. He has cited architecture ranging from the Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
, Rajput
Rajput
A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...
, Islamic, and Caribbean vernacular to Victorian Funfairs as influences. Recurrent themes and imagery include visual expressions of power, trophies, globalisation, movement of peoples, the creation of cultures, ships and boats, and packaging.
Locke felt dogged in his early career by misreadings of his work.
"It was seen as being from a folk tradition, not as being of its own tradition, true to itself - as art basically...I stopped making work in colour for three years, I just dropped it"
Curator Kris Kuramitsu wrote of the genesis of Hemmed In Two and Cardboard Palace -
"Frustrated by the fact that his biography so heavily over-determines the reading of his work, he created a series of sculptures in which he used cardboard to preemptively package the work for the viewer. This move was revelatory for Locke's practice, as through this material he could metonymically address migration, international economics, globalisation and ideas about personal and cultural protection and projection".
Locke continued - "Then I started making fake Voodoo dolls: basically fake exotica. And that developed into the Voodoo Royal Family. I started to have fun with that question that all through the 90s had really annoyed me: 'Where do you come from?' i.e. 'You're not one of us. What are you?' "
His ongoing series House of Windsor began as portraits of members of the British royal family
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
, but now exclusively uses a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II for a symbolic framework. He has stated "My feelings about the Royal Family are ambivalent. I am simply fascinated by the institution and its relationship to the press and public. My political position is neither republican nor monarchist."
Locke's investigation in the display of Power has expanded into new areas such as royal and swagger portraiture, coats-of-arms, public statuary, trophies, masculinity, company share certificates, weaponry and costume. He states - "This ...(is) essentially about Power – who had it, who has it and who desires it".
Impossible Proposals is an over arching title for series of works related to public statuary that include Natives and Colonials, Restoration and Sikandar. "It started as a proposal to get a statue-dressing project off the ground. Nobody was willing to take this project up, so the proposals...became the artwork...things I would never be allowed to do".
Prof. Ingrid von Rosenberg has written -
"(Black) Artists who continue to produce work with a critical message, like Yinka Shonibare
Yinka Shonibare
Yinka Shonibare, MBE, is a British-Nigerian artist living in the UK. He readily acknowledges physical disability as part of his identity but creates work in which this is just one strand of a far richer weave.-Life and career:...
and Hew Locke, avoid the open confrontation typical of the 1980s and instead use humour and satire, positioning themselves as cultural insiders, rather than excluded outsiders"
Selective Bibliography
- '’Diana Cooper Hew Locke’', London, The Drawing Room, 2004, ISBN 0-9542668-2-X
- '’Hew Locke’', Walsall, The New Art Gallery Walsall, 2005, ISBN 0 946652 77 5
- ‘‘How do you want me?’’, Paris, Editions Janninck, 2009, ISBN 978-2-916067-41-4
- ‘‘Stranger in Paradise’’, London, Black Dog Publishing Ltd, 2011, ISBN 978-1-907317-38-9'
Selected Press
- Marcus Verhagen, "King of Clutter", contemporary (magazine), issue 73, 2005.
- Jon Wood, "Photography, painting and impossible sculpture: Hew Locke's 'Natives and Colonials' ", Sculpture Journal volume 15.2, 2006.
- Pernilla Holmes, "Swords, Lizards and the Queen", ARTnewsARTnewsARTnews is an arts magazine based in New York, founded by James Clarence Hyde in 1902 as Hyde’s Weekly Art News. It is published 11 times a year.ARTnews covers all art, from ancient to Post-modernism...
, October 2007. - Ingrid von Rosenberg, "Transformations of Western Icons in Black British Art" Journal for the Study of British Culture Vol 15/1, 2008.
- Ben Luke, "Hew Locke", Art World, April/May 2008.
- Hew Locke in conversation with Richard West, Source (photography magazine)Source (photography magazine)Source is a quarterly photography magazine published in Belfast. It is distributed throughout the UK, Ireland and internationally. It is the longest running photographic review in the UK since the closing of in 2001 and is comparable to other international photography titles such as Aperture in...
issue 55, summer 2008. - Shan Peng, exhibition review of "Kingdom of the Blind", Art MonthlyArt MonthlyArt Monthly is a magazine of contemporary art founded in 1976 by Jack Wendler and Peter Townsend. It is based in London and has an international scope, although its main focus is on British art...
, October 2008. - Barry Schwabsky, exhibition review of "The Nameless", ArtforumArtforumArtforum is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art.-Publication:The magazine is published ten times a year, September through May, along with an annual summer issue...
, December 2010.
External links
- Hew Locke website, retrieved 2011
- BP Artists Talk: Hew Locke, in conversation with Marcus Verhagen, Tate Britain, 25.03.2009, retrieved 2011
- Hew Locke talks about "Sikandar" proposal for The Fourth Plinth, retrieved 2011
- Hew Locke talks about "Vita, Veritas, Victoria" at Brooklyn Museum, 2007, retrieved 2011
- Hew Locke archive page, Iniva, retrieved 2011
- Donald Locke website, retrieved 2011
- Indra Khanna website, retrieved 2011
- Tate: Meet the Artist: Hew Locke The artist talks about his piece The Nameless. 28 September 2010