Installation view of Hew Locke; Kings & Queens, 2025.Courtesy artist and Cristea Roberts Gallery, London © Hew Locke.
Jerwood Foundation is delighted to announce the acquisition of Kings & Queens (2025), a complete set of fifteen prints by acclaimed British-Guyanese artist Hew Locke OBE, RA (b. 1959). This vibrant and meticulously crafted series, published by Cristea Roberts Gallery in an edition of 25, enriches Jerwood Collection’s representation of leading contemporary artists. The series comprises three-colour screenprints enriched with catalysed and vinyl inks and finished with 23-carat gold leaf.
Hew Locke was shortlisted for the Jerwood Sculpture Prize in 2003, a pivotal moment early in his career that helped shape his practice. He was a Royal Academician in 2022, awarded an OBE in 2023, and was named Apollo Artist of the Year in 2025.
Recent exhibitions highlight the breadth and ambition of his work: his major co-curated show Hew Locke: What Have We Here? at the British Museum (October 2024–February 2025) saw him juxtapose over 150 museum objects with his own sculptural figures to explore the legacies of empire. At Tate Britain, his 2022 installation The Procession brought together hundreds of carnival-like characters draped in symbols of colonial history.
Kings & Queens continues Locke’s long-standing exploration of power, pageantry, colonial histories, and the visual language of authority. Across the set, Locke reimagines archetypes of monarchy and leadership through ornamentation, symbolism, and colour, inviting viewers to consider how systems of power are constructed, glorified, and critiqued. With its combination of technical precision and conceptual richness, the series offers an incisive and timely reflection on the enduring allure, and ambiguity, of royal imagery.
February 12, 2026
