This solo exhibition of Norman Ackroyd RA CBE offers an intimate and extensive look at our Kingdom through the eyes of a contemporary printmaking virtuoso.
From prints of Balmoral Castle and Tower Bridge in London, to prints of the Shetland Isles and Bishop Rock in the Isles of Scilly, this varied show of Ackroyd’s work is a celebration of the UK and its far-reaching landscape. In this collection of over thirty prints, landscapes of well known historic and tourist sites as well as some of the lesser known and furthest reaches of our kingdom are brought sharply and beautifully into focus.
Aching with atmosphere, emotion and patriotism, for some, these landscapes transport us back in time to memories of the these particular places, for others, they awaken a desire to see them and visit them. Working in the upper limits of what can be produced using ink, paper and acid, Ackroyd’s prints serve as important historical documents of our kingdom; they are profound statements made in black and white. Yet, they are also a vivid reminder of the oft forgotten beauty still to be found readily throughout the UK.
'The distance between the lighthouse of Muckle Flugga at the extreme north of Shetland and the Bishop’s Rock at the extreme east of the Scilly Isles is just over 1000 miles as the crow flies and is the longest measurement of the Kingdom.
Muckle Flugga is nearer to the North Pole then the southern tip of Greenland, while Bishops Rock is roughly the same latitude as Paris. This west coast marks not only the Atlantic edge of the British archipelago but also of Europe and Asia.
Human migrations and invasions over millennia have all left their mark on the landscape, no more so than in the last 1000 years when mass deforestation has bequeathed us the landscape that we’re now familiar with.
Evidence of our predecessors permeates the entire Kingdom and underpins our true understanding of our landscape.'
Statement by Norman Ackroyd RA CBE, April 2023
The exhibition opens the weekend before the Coronation of King Charles III. Please join us at the opening on Saturday 29th of April from 3pm-5pm for a glass of champagne.
