Hew Locke

Hew Locke has generously produced Distant Thunder, 2022, a limited edition print to coincide with the Tate Britain Commission, Hew Locke: The Procession, 22 March 2022 – 22 January 2023.

For this printed collage, Locke has taken a motif of an imaginary figure that features as a detail in The Procession and hand painted it in vibrant colours. The skeletal figure is derived from the European tradition of Momento Mori – an image meant to remind us of our mortality – and is also reminiscent of characters from Caribbean folklore. The figure, which is digitally printed and die cut, is overlaid on a black and white photograph of a typical Guyanese house with decorative fretwork and Demerara shutters. An example of Caribbean colonial wooden architecture, houses such as this are an important part of the culture and identity of Guyana. In recent years, many of them have been demolished to make way for concrete building developments, or are simply deteriorating in the hot, humid climate. These beautiful wooden houses, which Locke aspired to owning as a child, are being lost to future generations. This premonition is reflected in the title, Distant Thunder.

Each print is signed and numbered by the artist and comes unframed.

Prices of the artwork are liable to change. As a limited edition sells out, prices of the artwork are subject to increase and the price will be clearly indicated.

• Artist Hew Locke
• Artwork Distant Thunder
• Dimensions 60 x 42.7 cm
• Material Digital pigment print with digitally printed hand applied die cut figure on paper
• Edition 2
• Date of work 2022

Hew Locke (b. 1959, Edinburgh, UK) is a Guyanese-British artist based in Brixton, London. Poetic and political, Locke's sculptures are assembled from materials and sources that reference global histories and the symbols of our age; from coats-of-arms, trophies and weapons to plastic toys, boats and flowers. With an upbringing spanning the UK and Guyana, his work explores the languages of colonial and post-colonial power, questioning ideas of global cultural identities and how these representations are altered by the passage of time.

Locke obtained a B.A. Fine Art in Falmouth in 1988 and an MA in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art, London in 1994. He has exhibited internationally and has been included in biennales from China to India to the Americas. His works are held in many public collections, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Tate, The Victoria & Albert Museum and The British Museum. In 2000, he won a Paul Hamlyn Award and the EASTinternational Award. In 2010, Locke's work, Sikandar, was shortlisted for the Fourth Plinth, Trafalgar Square, London, UK. His work The Jurors was nominated for the PMSA's 2016 Marsh Award for excellence in public sculpture. In 2022, he was elected a member of The Royal Academy of Arts. Recently, Locke has been commissioned to create a suite of sculptures for the façade niches of The Met Fifth Avenue, New York, which will be on view from September 2022 until May 2023.