Hew Locke | The Ambassadors | The Lowry

Hales is delighted to announce that Hew Locke's solo exhibition, The Ambassadors, is now open at The Lowry, Salford, through 25 June 2023.

 

Locke explores the languages of colonial and post-colonial power, how different cultures fashion their identities through visual symbols of authority, and how these representations are altered by the passage of time. These explorations have led Locke to a wide range of subject matters, imagery and media, assembling sources across time and space in his deeply layered artworks.

 

Central to this exhibition, The Ambassadors consists of four Black figures on horseback, acting as envoys, bringing messages from the past to the future. Each of them is intricately decorated with symbols that echo past cultures, including Benin bronzes, colonial medals, currency, and much more. With these figures, Locke offers a counterpoint to traditional statues and monuments, subverting their symbols of power, and questioning who our society chooses to memorialise and celebrate.

 

 

Hew Locke 

The Lowry

Pier 8, The Quays

Salford, M50 3AZ

 

28 April - 25 June 2023