Hew Locke: Here’s the Thing

Hew Locke: Here’s the Thing

Jonathan Watkins, Richard Drayton, and Diana Tuite

Paperback, 8.5 x 11 in., 120 pp.

Co-published with Ikon Gallery and Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

$25

Corresponding Exhibition: Hew Locke: Here’s the Thing

Hew Locke: Here’s the Thing is the most comprehensive exhibition to date of work by the artist Hew Locke. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1959, but raised in Guyana—a British colony until 1970—Locke often sailed between the UK and South America during his childhood. Across a wide range of media, he considers the maritime vectors of mercantilism, colonialism, post-colonialism, migration, and diaspora. Within his nautical imagery, Locke reconfigures iconographies of nationhood, and in particular, the military. The art historian Kobena Mercer has described him as “hollowing out the iconography of sovereignty that has become so all pervasive that its figurative codes are overlooked.” 

This catalogue contextualizes Locke’s expansive body of work with essays exploring the seen versus unseen, as well as the intersections of imperialism, authenticity, and excess.