The Yale Center for British Art (YCBA) presents a new exhibition displaying three decades of work by Guyanese-British artist, Hew Locke. Featuring nearly fifty works from the artist, “Hew Locke: Passages” explores the evolution of Locke’s art and his use of multimedia in photography, sculptures, paintings and drawings. His intricate works explore the historical themes of migrants, colonialism and how history impacts our modern day.
The exhibition’s curator, Martina Droth, said the exhibit allows guests to view Locke’s thought-provoking works firsthand.
“He brings forward complex historical themes and relates them to present-day experience. The exhibition will take us on a journey into his vision of the world—dazzling, seductive, poignant and sinister all at once,” Droth said.
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Locke moved to Guyana with his family in 1966, when the colony declared its independence from the British Empire. This, alongside his later navigation between Guyana and living in London, became the reasons behind his works. According to the YCBA, Locke became “deeply invested in uncovering the effects of imperialism on contemporary life and society.”
Upon entering the exhibit, guests are greeted with two complex plastic sculptures. One of them is called “Veni, Vidi, Vici (The Queen’s Coat of Arms)” and was made in 2004. It is made of textile, plastic, oil stick, artificial hair and plywood, all layered upon one another. The sculpture creates a chaotic, colorful representation of the royal coat of arms, a symbol adopted by the United Kingdom that represents the monarch, the head of state.
The next work, “Koh-i-noor,” was made in 2005. This relief sculpture, made of mixed media on a wooden base, is built upon the official portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. At first glance, the work appears to be a mashup of different materials, with a floral-like nature. Though the closer one admires the piece, the distorted image of the Queen’s face becomes clear, as her eyes pop out of the mass of materials.
The exhibition also features some of the life-sized photography portraits from Locke’s series, “How Do You Want Me?” In the portraits, Locke poses in elaborate costumes that depict various figures, including rulers and warlords. As viewers admire the bright and colorful chaos of the photo’s details and the identities Locke is representing, the series asks exactly what its title suggests: “How do you want me?”
“‘How Do You Want Me’? is the question many people ask when having their portrait taken at a high-street photographer. How should they pose in order to be acceptable? I am saying – OK – if this is how you want your black artists to be – then I can project that image for you,” Locke said.
Locke also said why he chose to dress as these figures in this series.
“You can feel the power of the characters, and at the same time their impotence, decay and perversion. Like many tyrants, they contain the seeds of their own destruction,” he said. “I literally put myself inside of my own work, and presented the characters as they would have wanted. I felt I was acknowledging the potential for violence within each of us.”
Aside from photographs and sculptures, another part of the exhibition showcased Locke’s “Share Certificates.” Following the global financial crash of 2008, Locke began to paint over historic paper share certificates he purchased. These documents proved ownership of a specific number of shares in a company, and by painting over these certificates, Locke wanted to reveal the dark history behind them.
View all of the works featured in “Hew Locke: Passages,” at the YCBA from now until Jan.11. The museum is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, visit their website, britishart.yale.edu.
