WOLVERHAMPTON.- Pork Knocker Dreams is Donald Locke‟s first UK solo exhibition since the 1970s. Consisting of sculpture, pottery, painting and even human hair this body of work explores elements of modernism and folk art. The exhibition includes approximately 50 sculptures and paintings, many utilizing natural or printed found objects.

The work of display was created with the influence of the artist‟s Guyanese background with the aesthetics of modern art, to create abstract, unique pieces with elements of the rich Guyanese culture.

Donald Locke‟s influence has been acknowledged in seminal exhibitions such as „Back to Black‟ and „The Other Story‟, and now there is an opportunity for his work to be presented to a wider and younger public. This long awaited and most recent of exhibitions is highly anticipated.

Donald Locke has lived, studied and worked in Guyana, Britain and the USA, moving backwards and forwards across the Atlantic for a number of years. In Guyana, during the 1960‟s, he was a key part of the creative elite who shaped art after Independence, using the language of modernism combined with traditional motifs to help mould a new International Style.

The title itself „Pork Knocker Dreams‟ tells the story of Pork Knockers - fearless gold prospectors who searched the jungles of the mythical El Dorado, Guyana. Locke‟s own father earned the nick-name „Dunnamite Dan‟ for his prospecting exploits, rapidly fashioning a new canoe in the bush when the one carrying him and his companions was smashed in the rapids.

This recent body of work primarily features his distinctive sculptures which are as much inspired by native cultures and spoken myths as by European tradition, he fuses these elements, blending the influences of his varied ancestries.