Brooklyn Museum Acquires Hew Locke Sculpture Of Queen Elizabeth

The work is one of three similar portraits from the same series as Locke’s El Dorado, currently on view through January 27, 2008, at the Brooklyn Museum in the exhibition Infinite Island: Contemporary Caribbean Art.

Both Koh-i-noor and El Dorado incorporate recycled everyday objects, including popular items that the artist finds in variety stores and flea markets such as plastic insects and flowers, doll heads, and silver chains. Koh-i-noor draws upon the legend of the fabled Koh-i-noor diamond, one of the largest in the world, as a symbol of British imperialism. The gem was owned by Indian and Persian rulers until it became a part of the British Crown Jewels after Great Britain seized control of India in 1849, and was subsequently cut and polished to enhance its beauty.

Koh-i-noor was purchased from the Hales Gallery, London, and prior to joining the Brooklyn Museum collection, it will be on view in their booth at Art Basel Miami, the annual international art fair.

Also on view in Infinite Island is Vita, Veritas, Victoria, a work Hew Locke created especially for the exhibition. Composed of cords and beads and affixed to the wall with adhesive, it will be dismantled when the exhibition closes.

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1959 and raised in Georgetown, Guyana, Locke currently lives in London. He received a B. A. in Fine Art from the Falmouth School of Art, United Kingdom, and an M.A. from the Royal College of Art, London. He has exhibited at Tate Britain, the Chisenhale Gallery, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and at the New Art Gallery in Walsall, United Kingdom, as well as at several institutions outside of the United Kingdom. -- www.brooklynmuseum.org