I went over to the Ikon Gallery after arriving in Birmingham yesterday to pick up a copy of the ‘Ritual’ Zine by weird walks

Whilst there I decided to visit the ‘Resistant Forms’ Exhibition by Donald Locke. Ikon is exhibiting ‘Twin Forms’ followed by Plantation Series (1970s) which were described by Locke as “sculptural metaphors where forms are held in strict lines, connected together as if with chains held within a system of metal bars or metal grids, analogous to the system whereby one group of people were kept in economic and political subjugation by another group.”

‘The Cage’ (1976-79) in particularly made me shudder and stand in awe. His large canvas, steel wire with fur beneath turned my stomach. The idea of organic forms against the steel, evoking feeling of being trapped, but not just in a distant metaphorical sense, in a real visceral sense.

It felt like I was look at a trapped human being.