Exhibition archive

SUNLIGHT: Roger Ackling

• 18 May 2024 - 22 September 2024
• Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery
• Supported by EAAF - if you're not a member and would like to attend this event Join Now.

SUNLIGHT is the first survey of British artist Roger Ackling (1947-2014) and the most significant exhibition of his work to date. Reappraising Ackling’s practice 10 years after his death, SUNLIGHT is an unprecedented examination of one of the most quietly influential artists of the late 20^th century.

For 50 years, Ackling consistently made objects by burning wood - focussing sunlight through the lens of a hand-held magnifying glass to scorch repeated patterns of lines on the surface. Collecting driftwood from the beach at Weybourne near his home on the Norfolk coastline, as well as reclaimed broken and discarded materials, Ackling took little from the world to make his work and left nothing beyond a wisp of smoke in the air. His primary tool was the light of the sun – transforming energy in a process that was fundamentally photographic and yet also akin to a cauterising of the surface, much like a tattoo. Ackling is best known for his work on found driftwood, but SUNLIGHT expands this reputation to include lesser-known works made using domestic wooden objects, tools, and incorporating ready-made elements such as elastic bands and mapping pins. SUNLIGHT also features works on card and paper that have not been exhibited in the UK.

Ackling’s career is notable for both his unique practice and his long and influential teaching career. SUNLIGHT reveals the artist as a socially engaged, highly networked individual, consistently dedicated to making, exhibiting and teaching – in equal measure, with each activity influencing the other. Ackling’s works are shown alongside previously unseen and little-known materials from the artist’s extensive archive at the Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, as well as a film of interviews with fellow artists and students such as Tony Cragg, Maggi Hambling, Dean Hughes and David Nash, examining the impact and legacy of Ackling’s practice.

Exhibition credits

S U N L I G HT is realised with the critical support of key funders, to whom we are immensely grateful: Norfolk Museums Service, Arts Council England, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Norwich City Council, Norfolk County Council, East Anglia Art Fund, Henry Moore Foundation, Norwich University of the Arts, and Art Fund.