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Hales Gallery: Hew Locke - 'The Nameless' - 10 Sept 2010 to 17 Oct 2010 Current Exhibition |
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Hew Locke, The Nameless (detail), 2010
beads and cord on wall |
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Hew Locke 'The Nameless' 10 September - 17 October 2010 Private View: Thursday 9 September You walk through a series of arches, so to speak, and then, presently, at the end of a corridor, a door opens and you see backward through time and you feel the flow of time and realise you are only part of a great nameless procession. John Huston Hales Gallery is pleased to announce Hew Locke's third solo exhibition at the gallery. The Nameless presents a new grand scale installation, covering the gallery in dripping beads and cord. With reference to Huston's self-reflective quote, Locke's work displays a mysterious collection of an endless procession led by drummers enigmatically passing through the space on a seemingly endless journey. Both Locke's imagery and notion for the work are informed by a diverse and rigorously selected body of research. The Nameless sees a dense amalgamation of historical and contemporary references; Venetian sculptures rub up against Victorian architectural details, Pre-Columbian artefacts with Assyrian reliefs and the Benin bronzes. With reference to medieval frescos of the Last Judgement and of past battles and Egyptian tomb paintings, Locke revels in the past's use of narrative. However, The Nameless does not offer up clarity in its sequence of events, instead the work provides a false sense of didactic discussion where the pastiche of information presents no direct narrative, description or distinct purpose. Here, the work becomes an unexplained display of perpetual marching, a contemporary exhibit of the Flying Dutchman through artistic gesture. Dripping with beads and glue, seemingly patched together with cord and tape, the hangings remind us of thread-worn and unravelling tapestries in a forgotten corridor of a once stately house. The beads not only echo trailing threads or dripping paint, but also blood and chains. Hew Locke was born in Edinburgh, lived in Guyana for the 14 years of his childhood and is now based in London. Locke has been shortlisted for the Fourth Plinth commission in Trafalgar Square and the maquettes can be seen at St Martin-in-the-Field, Trafalgar Square 20 Aug-31 Oct. He has recently been commissioned by Situations for Brunswick Cemetery, Bristol and has participated in Behind the Mask at the New Art Gallery, Walsall. His works are included in several prestigious collections such as the Tate Collection, Brooklyn Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, the Government Art Collection, the British Museum and the Henry Moore Institute. |
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