For over a decade Hew Locke has been interrogating the idea of the Hero, as manifested in the thousands of public statues scattered around our towns, creating work he has described as “mindful vandalism”. In this work Locke layers brass engraved sugar cubes and sugar cane onto a bust of Henry Tate. A bust he passes everyday outside Brixton Library, one of several Tate libraries built by Henry Tate in south London. Tate also built Tate Britain, endowed it with his personal collection, and presented it to the nation. These are libraries and galleries that Locke makes use of today.

Locke has created one of his trademark assemblages, glittering, decorative, and yet reflective of his own complex relationship with the history of Henry Tate. The limited edition artwork Tate, 2015 by Hew Locke accompanies the exhibition Artist & Empire at Tate Britain.