Donald Locke: Resistant Forms

By Apollo, 4 April 2026


Donald Locke (1930–2010) was born in British Guiana and died in Atlanta, but he also spent a quarter-century in the UK. Having established a formidable reputation as a painter in Guiana, making paints from unusual ingredients and winning prizes for abstract work, he was awarded a scholarship to study ceramics in Bath at the age of 24 and went on to master a number of other art forms. Viewing his frenetic drawings, pared-back metal sculptures and large multimedia paintings side by side, it’s hard to believe that they came from the same hand. This retrospective, which began in Bristol and moved to Birmingham last year, is now opening in its final version in London (10 April–30 August). On display are a number of works that weren’t included in the exhibition’s two previous editions, such as ceramics made in the last decade of Locke’s life and a series of works on paper from the 1990s that combine collaged images with impassioned mark-making.

Find out more from Camden Art Centre’s website.
Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary

Georgia Peach #2 (1993), Donald Locke. Photo: Michael Brzezinski; courtesy Estate of Donald Locke/Alison Jacques; © Estate of Donald Locke
Plantation K-140 (1974), Donald Locke. Tate Collection. © Estate of Donald Locke
Icons from the New World (A Conspiracy of Icons) (1992–93), Donald Locke. Courtesy Estate of Donald Locke/Alison Jacques; © Estate of Donald Locke