Donald Locke at Camden: When Materials Fight Back

After a bit of a break, it was good to get back into London’s gallery circuit. And Resistant Forms by Donald Locke at Camden Art Centre did not disappoint! It's a superbly curated exhibition showcasing a wonderful five-decade tour which each room offering shifts in style, form, material, and colour.

I was immediately struck by the use of raw timber, heavy ceramics, scrap metal, and industrial found objects, with elements fighting each other right on the panel. Nothing feels passive. You can feel the physical resistance in the surface, materials holding their ground and refusing to give in. Beyond the structure, I loved the highly disciplined colour palette: black, burnt sienna, and cerulean blue, with the occasional flash of crimson as an accent.

Standing there as both an art lover absorbing five decades of work and a painter obsessing over surface tension, it’s a brilliant reminder of what happens when you let materials fight for their space instead of forcing them to settle. Worth a visit, but you will need to be quick. It closes on 30th August.