Work
Ackroyd's works from the 1960s show his interest in both Pop Art, particularly artist Jasper Johns, and Minimalism. His complex compositions from that period often integrate pre-existing imagery such as newspaper clippings.
Gradually Ackroyd abandons the language of Pop Art; for a time his compositions simplify and grow more abstract, sometimes geometric. In time they depict or suggest naturalistic elements, e.g. hills, clouds, rainbows. Even when depicting rainbows, Ackroyd uses colour only very sparingly. He moves away from stencils and photographic transfers to pure aquatint, beginning the plate sometimes out in the landscape. His mature work can be reminiscent of J.M.W. Turner's, albeit without the benefit of colour.
In the 1980s Ackroyd emerged as a landscape artist. Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design mounted a retrospective exhibition of these works in 2006 and kept an archive of his work. His works range from minimalist, nearly abstract impressions, to detailed images. His work almost never includes the human figure, the landscape subjects are often of old human habitation. His prints range from tiny etchings intended to be bound into books to huge etchings. His preferred medium for working directly on paper is watercolour, including a recent project pairing his watercolors with poems by Kevin Crossley-Holland, published under the title "Moored Man". He has also designed a number of large-scale, etched reliefs in steel or bronze commissioned for architectural projects in London, Moscow, Birmingham, and Glasgow. Recently completed projects include a mural at the Sainsbury Laboratory at Cambridge University, showing scenes from the Galapagos, and a door at Great Portland Estates in London, W1. See also published works such as "The Stratton Street Series" (introduction by Ian Ritchie).
With Douglas Dunn, he has recently published A Line in the Water; the book was designed by Isambard Thomas. Ackroyd's working methods are described in the most recent issue of "Archipelago" (No. III, Spring 2009).
Ackroyd's work can be found in several British and American galleries including the Tate, the British Museum, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington. He has been in several television programmes, including BBC documentaries in 1980, 2006, and What Do Artists Do All Day? (2013).
Read more about this topic: Norman Ackroyd
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