Hew Locke's Constant Motion

"I completed coursework for my master's degree in Art History years ago and wrote about half of my thesis before letting other projects, and plain old exhaustion, push it down the priority list. This made me feel guilty, and the guilt became another deterrent. Every time I sat down to write, a sense of shame loomed over the work ahead like a slowly expanding ink blot."

"This week, Hyperallergic 's reporters and contributors authored pieces that spoke to resilience and momentum, like critic Seph Rodney's moving review of a Hew Locke exhibition at the Yale Center for British Art. In Locke's suspended sculptures of vessels, loaded with cargo as though "plucked from the sea mid-journey," Rodney sees how vestiges of the past carry into the present. The show, he writes, "is about transitions, movement, both to and from what we might recognize as our home shores.""

An individual resolves to finish a long-delayed master's thesis after completing coursework, confronting guilt and shame that impeded progress. Shame became a deterrent, making writing feel like an expanding ink blot, yet persistence continues. Exhibitions and artworks emphasized resilience and momentum, exemplified by Hew Locke's suspended sculptures of vessels, described as loaded with cargo 'plucked from the sea mid-journey' and framed as explorations of transition and movement between home shores. Spanish artist Cecilia Giménez, who died at 94, left a famously botched restoration that transformed into a beloved, surprising legacy, illustrating how mistakes can become beautiful opportunities. Dozens of works entered the public domain, including a Piet Mondrian painting and Betty Boop's debut.

Read at Hyperallergic