Birmingham 2022 Festival and Ikon launch Foreign Exchange: A temporary public artwork by Hew Locke
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Tuesday, November 5, 2024


Birmingham 2022 Festival and Ikon launch Foreign Exchange: A temporary public artwork by Hew Locke
Foreign Exchange by Hew Locke, a temporary public artwork presented by the Birmingham 2022 Festival and commissioned by Ikon. Photo by Shaun Fellows. Courtesy of Birmingham 2022 Festival and Ikon.



BIRMINGHAM.- Launched today, Birmingham’s city-centre sculpture of Queen Victoria has been reimagined by acclaimed Guyanese-British artist Hew Locke. Presented by the Birmingham 2022 Festival and commissioned by Ikon, Foreign Exchange will remain on view through the summer and during the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. This temporary work is seen within the context of a wide-reaching festival of performances, events and projects which all consider our place in the Commonwealth, the present moment and stories of Birmingham and the West Midlands.

Originally unveiled in 1901, Sir Thomas Brock’s marble figure of Queen Victoria was recast in bronze by William Bloye and members of the Birmingham School of Art for the Festival of Britain in 1951. Seventy years on, Locke draws attention to the original craftsmanship of Brock and Bloye, meanwhile bringing a diverse social and historic focus to a Birmingham heritage asset. A monument overlooked by passers-by, it is brought into the twenty-first century to become a significant contemporary artistic gesture.

Reaching over seven meters high, Foreign Exchange wraps around the existing Queen Victoria statue, preserving its original state. Depicting a boat carrying five smaller replica statues of Queen Victoria, each figure wears a helmet, reminiscent of that worn by Britannia, and a replica medal signifying an important battle in the history of the British Empire. Exploring the symbolic power of public monuments, Locke’s vision is to create “an iconic image, leading a cohort of other statues to represent the home nation throughout the Empire”. Locke often uses titles that can be read in different ways; Foreign Exchange might remind us of the exchange of cultures, wealth, labour and DNA that happened during the Empire – all of which continue across the Commonwealth today.




Born in Edinburgh in 1959, Locke lived in Georgetown, Guyana, from 1966 to 1988 before returning to the UK. His interest in the power of statues originates from his childhood in Guyana where he passed a sculpture of Queen Victoria every day on the way to school. Whilst he has been reimagining historical statues for twenty years, Foreign Exchange is Locke’s first temporary public sculpture. His detailed preparatory sketches, made during his solo exhibition at Ikon Gallery in 2019, formed an important departure point for the project.

Located in Birmingham’s Civic Quarter, Foreign Exchange enhances the monument’s role as a place of discussion and celebration for the city and its visitors. Running alongside the project, the Birmingham 2022 Festival and Ikon are offering extensive public engagement and education programmes, including free creative learning activity packs for schools, guided tours, workshops and a school’s showcase celebrating artworks by pupils from local schools responding to Foreign Exchange. Locke will also take part in an In Conversation with curator and cultural historian, Gus Caseley-Hayford, at Birmingham Cathedral on 14 July.

Hew Locke says: “The culture in the UK today is a result of centuries of foreign exchanges, including across the former Empire. In this work, I was keen to make something that was relevant to all the people of Birmingham, and to people visiting the city for the Games. Representations of Victoria are scattered across the UK, and also existed in every country represented by athletes at the Commonwealth Games, enabling them to engage directly with the artwork. More personally, this project is the realisation of a long-held dream for me, and a continuation of my engagement with the city of Birmingham.”

Raidene Carter, Executive Producer for the Birmingham 2022 Festival, says: “Hew Locke adds an important voice to the honest conversations we want audiences to have through the festival this summer as we welcome the Commonwealth Games. Foreign Exchange is an artwork that has been in the making for a long time, well before contemporary discussion about statues surfaced, and we’re excited to be realising his long-held vision alongside Ikon, to show that now is the time and Birmingham is the place that can engage the world with thought-provoking, brave and awe-inspiring public art.”

Born in Edinburgh in 1959, Hew Locke lived from 1966 to 1980 in Georgetown, Guyana, and is currently based in London. He is a Royal Academician and obtained a B.A. Fine Art in Falmouth (1988) and an M.A. Sculpture at the Royal College of Art, London (1994). His work is represented in many international collections including those of The Government Art Collection, The Pérez Art Museum Miami, The Tate Gallery, The Arts Council of England, The National Trust, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Brooklyn Museum, New York, The New Art Gallery Walsall, The Victoria & Albert Museum, The Imperial War Museum, The British Museum and The Henry Moore Institute, Leeds. His work The Procession is currently on view at Tate Britain as part of their annual Commission series, and forthcoming projects include the 2022 Metropolitan Museum Façade Commission in New York.










Today's News

June 15, 2022

As the Biennale expands, locals ask, 'Whose Venice is it?'

Gagosian now representing Stanley Whitney

Ernie Barnes' The Sugar Shack goes on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston June 15

Fred the Mastodon's tusks reveal a life of fighting and roaming

IU Eskenazi Museum of Art launches a research project celebrating the contributions of women artists

Major STIK work comes to Bonhams' Post-War & Contemporary Art sale in London

One man's vision of his dream Ferrari offered at H&H Classics

Dimbolas summer show is a retrospective of decades of archive photography by Sussex photographer Marilyn Stafford

In bits of rocks, cues to solar system's origins

Property from the collection of Dino & Martha DeLaurentiis and Mitzi Gaynor up for auction

Turner Prize shortlisted artist creates UK's largest ourdoor exhibition across Surrey

James Fuentes opens Daisy Parris' first solo exhibition in New York

New Pre-Raphaelite Curator and Chief Curator announced at the Delaware Art Museum

After 10 years, Barrie Kosky leaves his opera house dancing

New York Philharmonic agrees to restore pay for musicians

As air-raid sirens sound, a Lviv orchestra opens summer festival with Mozart's Requiem

Never missing a curtain this season, the Met Opera takes a final bow

June Art Fair opens 4th edition in Basel

Parco Arte Vivente presents 10 years of smellscapes, labs and conversations y Elena Mazzi

Coronation brooch realises £180,000 in Noonans sale

Birmingham 2022 Festival and Ikon launch Foreign Exchange: A temporary public artwork by Hew Locke

Sol Calero presents Los vestigios de La Turista in The Hague's art space 1646

Leading British artist Conrad Shawcross creates new work for Ukraine

MOHAI announces $10 million gift from Jeff Bezos to expand Center for Innovation

Heritage Auctions, Screenbid team up to offer authenticated Hollywood memories straight from the set

Why Should You Choose UI/UX as a Career in 2022?

5 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Cleaning Your Windows

What is the best free no-registration streaming site in 2021?

A Foolproof Guide to Data Cabling Installation

10 things you can do to support your friend during a marriage annulment

How to Finance Your Dream Wedding in 2022




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Holistic Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful