Hew Locke

Hew Locke was born in 1959 in Edinburgh, UK and spent his formative years in Georgetown, Guyana from 1966. He returned to the UK and graduated from Falmouth University in 1988 with a B.A. in Fine Art before completing his masters in Sculpture at the Royal College of Art, London in 1994.

Locke is best known for his colourful sculptures and large-scale installations which explore cycles of history, identity and power. He first came to public attention in 2000 with a major commission at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London which highlighted the problematic history of the institution. In the same year, he won both a Paul Hamlyn Award and an East International Award. In 2024, the artist was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Edinburgh for his significant contributions to the arts and recognition for his work as a sculptor.

Locke’s solo exhibitions and presentations include; Yale Centre for British Art; Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (2025 – 2026); The British Museum (2024); Baltic, Gateshead (2023); Tate Britain, London (2022); Birmingham Festival, Birmingham (2022); The Lowry, Salford (2020); Ikon Gallery, Birmingham (2019). Recent group exhibitions include: The National Archives (2025); Tropen Museum, Amsterdam (2023); Nasher Museum of Art, North Carolina (2023); Hayward Gallery, London (2022); Tate Britain (2021); Museum of Cultural History, Oslo (2019). 

In 2010, Locke was shortlisted for the Fourth Plinth commission in Trafalgar Square, London. In 2015 the artist unveiled a permanent public installation at Runnymede, commemorating the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta. In 2022, he was commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art to create a series of sculptures for the museum’s historic façade. Locke was elected a member of The Royal Academy of Arts in 2022 and was made an OBE in 2023. In 2025 he received Apollo Magazine’s Artist of the Year Award.

Locke’s work is held in collections around the world including; Tate, London; The Government Art Collection, London; The Victoria & Albert Museum, London; The Imperial War Museum, London; The British Museum, London; The Henry Moore Institute, Leeds; The Arts Council of England, Manchester; The National Trust, Swindon; The New Art Gallery, Walsall; The Pérez Art Museum, Miami; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and The Brooklyn Museum, New York.

Hew Locke currently lives and works in London, UK.