24 April - 2 June 2002
Cardboard Palace was commissioned by Chisenhale Gallery, London.
The installation is a vast
architectural construction (4m x 11m x 20m) resonating with that year's
Royal Golden Jubilee celebrations. Visitors moved through a series of
spaces akin to museum rooms or State Rooms loaded with images of the British
Royal Family. The Palace is a massive drawing, started with flat pieces
of card, which were then cut, painted,drawn, folded, bent and glued together
to become sculpture.
The Palace draws on a multitude
of references including Caribbean vernacular architecture, Rococo, Islamic
and Rajput architecture, sacred architecture, Victorian carousels and
funfairs. Locke blurs the boundaries between drawing, sculpture and installation.
Locke has had a long involvement
with the idea of 'invented culture', which developed into a strong interest
in how different cultures evolve and invent themselves, and select their
symbols of nationhood. Having grown up Georgetown, Guyana and then moving
to London, his work reflects the diversity and various historical fusions
still being played out in these urban post-colonial societies.
Cardboard Palace was reconfigured
as part of Locke's solo exhibition at The New Art Gallery, Walsall, 2005
All images © Hew Locke
and DACS 2005
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