Hew Donald Joseph Locke OBE RA (born 13 October 1959) is a British sculptor and contemporary visual artist based in Brixton, London.

[4] In 2015, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge dedicated Locke's public sculpture The Jurors, commissioned to commemorate 800 years since the signing of Magna Carta.

[16] Prof. Dr. Ingrid von Rosenberg has written: "(Black) Artists who continue to produce work with a critical message, like Yinka Shonibare and Hew Locke, avoid the open confrontation typical of the 1980s and instead use humour and satire, positioning themselves as cultural insiders, rather than excluded outsiders.

[18][19] Locke uses a wide range of media, makes extensive use of found objects, and his recurrent themes include cardboard, royalty, public statues, boats, finance and trade.

This move was revelatory for Locke's practice, as through this material he could metonymically address migration, international economics, globalisation and ideas about personal and cultural protection and projection.

He is adorned with cowrie shells and other trade beads ... we are made aware of his ... involvement in the uncomfortable truths of corrupt African Kingdoms selling their people ... Locke views this work as an act of 'mindful vandalism', an exploration of these characters who he finds both attractive and repellent.

"[32] Curator Zoe Lukov has written: "Locke offers us a maritime procession – at once celebratory and funereal – that is animated by the sub-marine pulse of history...a synthesis of symbols from intertwined historical and cultural legends and narratives...disparate legacies that surf the waves.

"[33] Locke described his 2019 mixed-media installation Armada, made up of 45 boat sculptures,[34][35] as addressing the reality that "today's refugee is tomorrow's citizen".

[36] Curator Amanda Sanfilippo of Fringe Projects, Miami, wrote that Locke "utilizes share certificates ... to embody the history and global movement of money, power and ownership.

These are silent witnesses, those who paid the most to create the wealth without receiving the benefit...This work... is also a wry acknowledgement of the commodity value of contemporary art.

The search for wealth, violent conquest and a desire for safety are factors that for centuries have driven the global movement of people...(it) is a post-colonial incentive to grapple with Bremen's maritime commercial and colonial history.