Image: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston has announced a public conversation with Guyanese-British artist Hew Locke and curator Brittany Webb on September 2 at 6 pm. Titled 'In Conversation with Hew Locke,' the event is framed around 'Memories of Guyana, Boats, and Nationhood: Acclaimed Artist Unpacks the Stories Woven into Passages.'
According to the museum’s announcement, Locke and Webb will discuss the physical materials, geographic influences, and cultural memories behind 'Hew Locke: Passages,' described as the most comprehensive survey of Locke’s work to date. The presentation positions the exhibition as a wide-ranging look at the artist’s practice rather than a single project or body of work.
Locke, who is identified in the museum material as Guyanese-British, has built a practice that the MFA Shop description characterizes in broad terms as spanning sculpture, photography, drawing, and found objects. The exhibition catalogue text says his work uses strategies of appropriation to examine and disrupt the visual codes of imperialism, while also addressing colonial and postcolonial power.
The catalogue description further notes that Locke’s materials include cardboard, fabric, beads, sequins, and readymade toys, and that his dense, highly textured works reflect his Guyanese-British heritage. It also says the exhibition brings together distinct bodies of work that scrutinize the visual language of empire and colonialism’s present-day legacies of global market capitalism, migration, and diaspora.
The event is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in connection with 'Hew Locke: Passages,' which the museum says is organized by the Yale Center for British Art in collaboration with the MFAH. The newsletter also notes support for the exhibition from the Jerold B. Katz Foundation, with additional support from Dillon Kyle and Sam Lasseter, and Winnie Scheuer and Kevin Bonebrake.
The museum’s announcement does not give further details about the format beyond the conversation between Locke and Webb, but it directs audiences to tickets and information for the September 2 program. The catalogue for 'Hew Locke: Passages' is also being sold through the MFA Shop as part of the museum’s exhibition-related offerings.
