Steve Locke - waiting for my man

LaMontagne Gallery is pleased to present waiting for my man, a solo exhibition by Steve Locke, whose interdisciplinary practice examines the entanglement of beauty, desire, and violence in American visual culture. Working across painting, drawing, sculpture, and installation, Locke uses figuration as a site where histories of spectacle, justice, and representation converge. Guided by his assertion that “There is no magic. There is only justice,” his work challenges viewers to confront what is at stake in looking - at images, at bodies, and at ourselves.

Across recurring motifs such as suspended portraits, expressive “tongue paintings,” and charged encounters between figures, Locke constructs scenes that hold tension between intimacy and unease. Rather than depicting violence directly, he foregrounds its psychological and historical presence, prompting reflection on complicity, memory, and perception. Spanning decades, his practice reconsiders portraiture as a critical lens through which to engage identity, power, and the unresolved narratives embedded in contemporary life.