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Hew Locke
Hew Donald Joseph Locke OBE RA (born 13 October 1959) is a British sculptor and contemporary visual artist based in Brixton, London. In 2000, he won a Paul Hamlyn Award and the EASTinternational Award. He grew up in Guyana, but has lived most of his adult life in London.
In 2010, he was shortlisted for the Fourth plinth, Trafalgar Square, London. In 2015, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge dedicated Locke's public sculpture The Jurors, commissioned to commemorate 800 years since the signing of Magna Carta.. In 2025 his permanent series of sculptures "Cargoes" was installed at King Edward Memorial Park, London, consisting of 6 bronze boats illustrating the history of the Thames and the local community.
Locke has had several solo exhibitions in the UK and USA, and is regularly included in international exhibitions and Biennales. His works have been acquired by collections such as Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), Florida, The Tate gallery, London and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. In 2016, the National Portrait Gallery in London acquired a portrait of Locke by Nicholas Sinclair. In 2022, he became a member of The Royal Academy of Arts.
He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to art. In 2024, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Edinburgh University.
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1959, Locke is the eldest son of Guyanese sculptor Donald Locke (1930–2010) and British painter Leila Locke (née Chaplin) (1936–1992). He spent his formative years (1966 to 1980) in Georgetown, Guyana, before returning to the UK to study. He received a B.A. Fine Art degree in 1988 from Falmouth University, and an M.A. in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art, London, in 1994. In 1995 he married curator Indra Khanna.
Prof. Dr. 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."
He has cited architecture ranging from the Baroque, Rajput, Islamic, and Caribbean vernacular to Victorian funfairs as influences. Locke uses a wide range of media, makes extensive use of found objects, and his recurrent themes include cardboard, royalty, public statues, boats, finance and trade.
Locke has said about misreadings of his work in his early career: "I would make a sculpture and people would think it was made for some festival....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."
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Hew Locke
Hew Donald Joseph Locke OBE RA (born 13 October 1959) is a British sculptor and contemporary visual artist based in Brixton, London. In 2000, he won a Paul Hamlyn Award and the EASTinternational Award. He grew up in Guyana, but has lived most of his adult life in London.
In 2010, he was shortlisted for the Fourth plinth, Trafalgar Square, London. In 2015, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge dedicated Locke's public sculpture The Jurors, commissioned to commemorate 800 years since the signing of Magna Carta.. In 2025 his permanent series of sculptures "Cargoes" was installed at King Edward Memorial Park, London, consisting of 6 bronze boats illustrating the history of the Thames and the local community.
Locke has had several solo exhibitions in the UK and USA, and is regularly included in international exhibitions and Biennales. His works have been acquired by collections such as Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), Florida, The Tate gallery, London and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. In 2016, the National Portrait Gallery in London acquired a portrait of Locke by Nicholas Sinclair. In 2022, he became a member of The Royal Academy of Arts.
He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to art. In 2024, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Edinburgh University.
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1959, Locke is the eldest son of Guyanese sculptor Donald Locke (1930–2010) and British painter Leila Locke (née Chaplin) (1936–1992). He spent his formative years (1966 to 1980) in Georgetown, Guyana, before returning to the UK to study. He received a B.A. Fine Art degree in 1988 from Falmouth University, and an M.A. in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art, London, in 1994. In 1995 he married curator Indra Khanna.
Prof. Dr. 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."
He has cited architecture ranging from the Baroque, Rajput, Islamic, and Caribbean vernacular to Victorian funfairs as influences. Locke uses a wide range of media, makes extensive use of found objects, and his recurrent themes include cardboard, royalty, public statues, boats, finance and trade.
Locke has said about misreadings of his work in his early career: "I would make a sculpture and people would think it was made for some festival....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."