there is no one left to blame (2013)

there is no one left to blame (2013)

Untitled (there is no one left to blame), 2013

Neon, wires, transformers

there is no one left to blame (2005-2013)

Oil on panel with collage with stained wood attached to wood base with latex, stain, acrylic and collage with stripped and painted poles, connectors, and flanges

70.5 x 30 x 22”

there is no one left to blame (2005-2013)

Oil on panel with collage with stained wood attached to wood base with latex, stain, acrylic and collage with stripped and painted poles, connectors, and flanges

70.5 x 30 x 22”

detail of there is no one left to blame (2005-2013)

the stand-in (2013)

Oil on panel

16 x 12”

all received wisdom (2007- 2012)

Oil and collage on beveled panel, enamel on verso, attached to stained and enamel painted wood box with stripped and painted pole, connectors and flanges. Resting on oil and acrylic base with painted legs and painted on verso.

39 x 24 x 24”

all received wisdom (2007- 2012)

39 x 24 x 24”

there is no one left to blame (2005-2013)

Oil on panel with collage with stained wood attached to wood base with latex, stain, acrylic and collage with stripped and painted poles, connectors, and flanges

70.5 x 30 x 22”

there is no one left to blame (2005-2013)

Oil on panel with collage with stained wood attached to wood base with latex, stain, acrylic and collage with stripped and painted poles, connectors, and flanges

70.5 x 30 x 22”

blind (2011)

Oil and collage on panel
10 x 10”

the pilgrim (2008-12)

Oil on beveled panel

24 x 20”

far enough outside (2008- 2013)

Oil and collage on panel attached to wood on a collage and painted base with painted metal, bolts, and stripped and painted poles, flanges, and connectors.

67 x 16 x 20”

far enough outside (2008- 2013)

Oil and collage on panel attached to wood on a collage and painted base with painted metal, bolts, and stripped and painted poles, flanges, and connectors.

67 x 16 x 20”

in place of the sun (2009- 2013)

Oil and collage on panel attached to beveled wood panel painted with enamel and acrylic on verso. With stripped pole, connectors and flanges.

32 x 16 x 14”

in the watching (2013)

Egg tempera and oil on wood, attached to wood base with collage, milk paint, and enamel, beveled and painted on bottom with painted wood legs. With stripped and painted poles, connectors, and flanges.

45 x 16 x 20”

in the watching (2013)

45 x 16 x 20”

the coward (2010-12)

Oil and acrylic on beveled panel

18 x 18”

his new religion (2011)

Oil on beveled panel. Spray paint on rear

16 x 16”

requiem (2013)

Ink on mylar with collage and steel pins on beveled panel with latex on verso attached to wood box with enamel and stain, with poles, connectors, and flanges.

67 x 8 x 10”

detail of requiem (2013)

loving the alien (2004- 2013)

Oil on beveled panel painted on verso, attached to wood box with collage, acrylic, and japan color with beveled panel painted on bottom, with stripped and painted poles, connectors, and flanges.

52 x 22 x 25”

detail of loving the alien (2004-2013)

the yogi (2006-2012)

Oil on beveled panel painted on verso, attached to wood base with poles, connectors, and flanges.

51 x 10 x 8”

the architect (2010-2012)

Oil on linen

16 x 20”

Private collection

the bigot (2013)

Oil on canvas

10 x 10”

Installation view, Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston

Installation view, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit

This exhibition was curated by Helen Molesworth for the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston (ICA). It then traveled to the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD). There is a limited edition catalog, created in Detroit, Michigan, designed by Megan O'Connell and Salt and Cedar and printed at Inland Press. It includes texts from artist Craig Drennen and Kemper Museum Curator Erin Dziedzic; an interview with Helen Molesworth and me, and a lexicon.

For several years Boston-based artist Steve Locke has been making images of male heads with their tongues sticking out—a curious expression that suggests disgust or dislike as much as it does teasing or flirting. Lushly painted in a wide-ranging palette, they are alternately disturbing, comical, vulnerable, and sensual. Locke’s works challenge the historical tendency in portraiture to depict men as authoritative and powerful by suggesting a more ambivalent array of ideas and emotions regarding masculinity. His first solo museum exhibition, there is no one left to blame features twelve all-new works—including a “constellation” of paintings, paintings affixed to sculptural supports, and a neon work bearing the show’s title.

The male faces in Locke’s portraits float disembodied within the canvas, evoking a range of references—from the myth of Medusa to historical traumas such as the French Revolution or the lynching of African-Americans to current anxieties about terrorism, war, and torture. In addition to this layered and nuanced field of associations, Locke is also experimenting with a variety of display strategies for paintings. Whether embedding them in the wall of the museum, or propping them onto sculptural supports, Locke’s treatment of oil paintings—traditionally simply hung on the wall—is commensurate with his complication of our conventional images of men. In both instances, Locke’s work pushes boundaries and suggests subtle hopes for new ideas and expanded freedoms.

- Helen Molesworth, Barbara Lee Chief Curator, ICA Boston (2013)