there is no one left to blame

Steve Locke’s practice spans painting, drawing, photography, and installation and explores ambivalent relationships between masculinity, homosexuality, and public memory. These themes grounded his 2013 solo exhibition at the ICA, Steve Locke: there is no one left to blame, whose titular piece exemplifies how Locke shifts the authority and power typically endowed to painting and portraiture in the direction of vulnerability. There is no one left to blame introduces to the collection an artist with strong ties to Boston and a history with the ICA’s exhibition program. Building on a developing strength of the ICA’s holdings in portraiture, this work complements works by Ree Morton, Klara Lidén, and Pope.L that exemplify painting’s engagement with sculpture.

2018.17