A Conspiracy of Icons: The Art of Donald Locke Donald Locke

Donald Locke (Guyanese, 1930–2010) belonged to a generation that grappled with the legacy of colonialization and the dawn of independence in the Caribbean. Locke enrolled in Guyana’s free Working People’s Art Class at age eighteen. He later said, “I was converted instantly. I became an artist, all in my head of course, and my life was changed forever.” Locke received scholarships to study art at the Bath Academy of Art in England and then at the Edinburgh College of Art. He studied painting, pottery, and sculpture, all practices that remained important throughout his artistic development.