HAPPY PORTRAIT MONDAY
Hew Locke, El Dorado, 2005 |
Locke subverts the glamour and power attached to royalty in this portrait of the Queen, which is so cumbersomely over-adorned so as to nearly entirely obscure the figure beneath. Equal parts iconographic, votive, and lush and dangerous surface, Locke's sculptures "show the inter-relatedness of the kitsch of everyday British culture and African wars, tribal legend, and empire."1
In his own words, Lock states:
This on-going series has developed my interest in images of Glamour and Power and how these have changed during the last 50 years. My feelings about the Royals are ambivalent, I am simply fascinated by the institution and it's relationship to the press and public. My political position is neither republican nor monarchist. I am interested in producing powerful, magical images of the Royal Family and I find it strange that this could be viewed as being a perverse act for a Black artist.
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