The Legacy of Colonialism Haunts Hew Locke’s Era-Defying Flotilla

Although Hew Locke’s practice revolves around geographically bound objects—superimposed drawings of Guyanese homes and his suspended flotilla among them—the artist traces the reaches of empire that extend far beyond any singular era or point on a map. How people, capital, cargo, and ideas traverse the globe has long been central to Locke’s work, an investigation he continues in The Wanderers on view at P·P·O·W.

Returning to the artist’s Odyssey series, the solo presentation hangs a fleet of miniature ships from the gallery ceiling. The flotilla features a wide array of boats, from tankers and fishing vessels to the towering galleons of the 16th century, which Locke embellishes with tiny pennants strung between the masts, foliage springing from the sides, and coats of colorful paint that appear as vibrantly aged patina. Referencing the global history of trade and exploitation, the ships all journey together toward un undetermined future, the legacy of their pasts in tow.

Conquest and the desire for control and wealth also appear in Locke’s lavish busts, which adorn Parian ware (a porcelain that emerged in the mid-19th century as an economical dupe for marble) with a trove of glittering baubles. Titled as Souvenirs, these mixed-media sculptures depict figures like Queen Victoria and George Washington and revel in artifice and ostentatious displays of power that soar high in the air.

Several skeletons are embedded within the costuming, gesturing toward memento mori and implicating these powerhouses in the afterlives of their colonial projects. The figures appear haunted by death and, as Locke says, are “weighed down by the literal burden of history.”

The Wanderers is on view through October 24 in New York. Find more from Locke on Instagram.

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