Donald Locke: Resistant Forms

10 Apr-30 Aug 2026

Overview

Explore the expansive resonances of a body of work, produced through a life-long commitment to experimentation in London’s first comprehensive survey of Guyanese-British ceramicist, painter and sculptor Donald Locke.

A post-war artist of the Windrush Generation, Donald Locke (1930-2010) played a pivotal role in 20th century British sculpture. This exhibition, presenting over 80 works across five decades, offers a long-overdue exploration of the artist, whose significance has gone under-recognised in the UK.

Always experimenting, Locke’s practice is characterised by his evolving approach to different media and his formal ingenuity, alongside a constant exploration of history, identity and subjugation.

Resistant Forms charts this evolution of Locke’s work across his life as he moved between homes in Guyana, the UK and the United States – influenced by the people and places he encountered along the way.

Commencing with his early ceramics works, evocative of human and natural forms, the exhibition traces the artist’s move to mixed-media sculpture and the monochromatic black paintings from his Plantation Series in the 1970s. Also presented are his large-scale paintings from the 90s, which continued Locke’s assemblage practice, through their incorporation of found images and ceramic, metal and wood. The final section of the show presents a selection of experimental works made by Locke during the final years of his life in Atlanta – mixing memory and mythologies, which were deeply influenced by the vibrant art scene and assemblage traditions of the American South.

A singularly prolific and heterodox artist, this exhibition represents the most comprehensive survey to date of the range of materials and styles adopted by Donald Locke across his life, reflecting his unwavering pursuit to give form and visibility to the “unique and hybrid contributions of Black culture to modernity.”

This exhibition is the final presentation of Resistant Forms, following iterations at Spike Island, Bristol, and Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, in 2025.