The Tate Britain exhibition, Life Between Islands: Caribbean-British Art, 1950s-Now, included Donald Locke’s work as part of its exploration of over four generations of Caribbean-British artists. With art from more than forty artists whose works spanned various media including film, photography, painting, sculpture, and fashion, the exhibit was among the first of its kind to engage the stories of Caribbean-British art with so much depth in a major national museum. Locke’s work from the Tate Britain collection, Plantation K/140, Trophies of Empire, and Dageraad from the Air, were featured in the exhibition.
As one review from The Guardian put it, the Tate Britain exhibition, Life Between Islands, is “exhilarating, mighty, radical, tender, as disturbing as it is beautiful… a revelation from first to last.”
About Donald’s work, the article explained, “His work is superb. Growing up at a time when the plantation system still existed, he later made an indelible image of his local countryside titled Dageraad from the Air. At a distance it might be an abstract canvas, entirely dark—even a pastiche of Ad Reinhardt’s all-black paintings—until you approach. Squares of blackened canvas, partitioned by sharp metal tacks and a cage-like grille, condense both the tortured history and the topography of the land below.”
As another review from Artlyst Magazine described, “Life Between Islands is a landmark exhibition at Tate Britain exploring the extraordinary breadth of Caribbean-British art over four generations. It will be the first time a major national museum has told this story in-depth, showcasing 70 years of culture, experiences and ideas expressed through art, from visionary paintings to documentary photography.”
To find more content and reviews related to this exhibit, please see the Publications and Media page.
You can also purchase a copy of the exhibition book from the Tate Britain Shop or Amazon.
On view December 1, 2021 – April 3, 2022.
0 comments on “Tate Britain, London, England”