SAATCHI GALLERY OPENS THE SUN AND THE MOON: ART INSPIRED BY THE CELESTIAL, A MAJOR SUMMER EXHIBITION EXPLORING HOW THESE OBJECTS IN THE SKY HAVE INFLUENCED ART, CULTURE AND HUMAN IMAGINATION, SUPPORTED BY CAZENOVE CAPITAL

• Occupying two floors and nine major gallery spaces, the exhibition presents artworks, installations and archival material exploring how the Sun and the Moon have shaped art, science, belief and imagination across cultures and over centuries
• Featuring the large-scale installation Helios by British artist Luke Jerram
• Immersive installations include Massless Suns and Dark Suns by the international art collective teamLab
• Showcasing works by both established and emerging artists across a wide range of media including painting, sculpture, fashion, textiles, photography, film and installations
• The exhibition follows FLOWERS – Flora in Contemporary Art and Culture (2025) as the second in a series of exhibitions surveying how the natural world inspires creativity across art and culture

LONDON, UK (9 June 2026) — Saatchi Gallery has opened The Sun and The Moon: Art Inspired by the Celestial, a major exhibition exploring how the two most powerful and enduring phenomena in the sky have inspired creativity, curiosity and belief throughout human history and across different cultures. Supported by headline sponsor Cazenove Capital, the exhibition runs until 8 September 2026.

Occupying two floors of the Gallery and spanning nine major exhibition spaces, the show presents artworks, installations, and objects that reveal how artists have responded to the Sun and the Moon. From ancient mythologies and early cosmologies to contemporary art and popular culture, the exhibition explores the profound influence these celestial bodies continue to have on human imagination.

This exhibition follows the immensely popular FLOWERS – Flora in Contemporary Art and Culture (2025) as the second in Saatchi Gallery’s series surveying how the natural world inspires creativity across artistic disciplines. Drawing on themes connected to the patterns of nature, The Sun and The Moon invites visitors to consider familiar symbols in unexpected ways.

Paul Foster, Saatchi Gallery Director comments, "In 2026 we are reflecting in wonder at objects in the sky that we too often take for granted but which represent amazing and beautiful essentials to all life on Earth. Artists working today are as influenced and inspired by these bodies as those who have created works throughout human history. The exhibition is designed to be an uplifting celebration of the world and solar system in which we live."

Building on its headline sponsorship of FLOWERS, Cazenove Capital returns as headline sponsor of The Sun and The Moon, continuing its partnership with the Gallery in support of ambitious and culturally significant exhibitions. Cazenove Capital is a leading provider of personalised wealth management services to ultra‑high‑net‑worth and high‑net‑worth clients, family offices, trusts and charities.

Dominic Emmerson, Deputy Chief Executive at Cazenove Capital comments, “Saatchi Gallery is a place where art, ideas and audiences come together in a way that is both inspiring and inclusive. By supporting artists and the wider creative ecosystem the Saatchi Gallery significantly strengthens the UK’s art culture, bringing together both local and international audiences.

At Cazenove Capital, our commitment to culture and philanthropy is rooted in the belief that supporting ideas, creativity and communities helps to create lasting positive impact. The Sun and The Moon exhibition is a compelling exploration of how creativity shapes our understanding of the world and we’re delighted to support this.”

The exhibition unfolds as a journey through a complete 24-hour cycle, moving from dawn through daylight and then into the depths of the night. Each gallery reflects on a period of the day and explores different stories associated with the Sun and the Moon. Themes explored include mythology, ritual, timekeeping lunar exploration and spirituality, revealing how these celestial bodies shape our daily lives and culture.

Works by Patrick Caulfield, Barbara Hepworth and Sinta Tantra introduce the exhibition before the journey begins at Dawn, which includes works exploring how early cultures rationalised the Sun and Moon as deities and cosmic forces. These celestial bodies were woven into myths and belief systems as symbols of power, presented here through historical artefacts ranging from the Sol Invictus Celtic Bust dated between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, to a faithful replica of the Nebra Sky Disc, alongside works by contemporary emerging artists such as Sunju Jin, Jai Khanna and Lian Zhang.

The second room, The Sun Rising, then reflects on how the sun structures our sense of time and rhythm, shaping the cycles of seasons, agriculture and everyday ritual. At its centre is Darcey Fleming’s Totem — a sculpture crafted from baling twine previously used by farmers, and referencing traditional celebrations connected to the land — presented amongst works by John Titchell, Sigrid Holmwood, Zak Ové and Sky Glabush.

At the height of the day, Zenith considers our bodies’ relationship with the sun, exploring our fascination with sunlight, warmth, the rituals of sunbathing and summer culture. Works by Hannah Frank, Dindga McCannon, Otto Piene, Sam Riley, Jim Lambie and Yinka Ilori appear alongside vintage travel posters and fashion objects including swimsuits, fans and eyewear. At its centre, Bryony Ella’s My Body is a Sundial invites visitors to consider the body not only as a record of solar time but also as a focus of solar intensity. Layers of embodied paintings are suspended between transparent panes held within a metal frame, ‘encasing memories of summers past and present’.

Setting Sun captures the emotional symbolism of a retreating sun, as artists explore themes of beauty, transformation and reflection through landscapes, symbolic imagery, and references to alchemy and astrology. Works by Michael Rothenstein and Peter Doig are presented alongside first edition tarot cards designed by Pamela Colman Smith in 1909. A key feature is Nancy Holt’s 1978 film Sun Tunnels, a twenty-six-minute work documenting the creation of Holt’s eponymous earthwork in the Great Basin Desert, Utah. The installation consists of four concrete cylinders arranged in an X formation across the landscape, each 18 feet long and 9 feet in diameter, perforated with constellations of small apertures that project patterns of light within the tunnels.

At the centre of the exhibition visitors encounter Helios, a monumental six-metre sculpture of the Sun by artist Luke Jerram. The internally illuminated spherical installation features detailed imagery of the Sun’s surface compiled from photographs by astrophotographer Dr Stuart Green and NASA observations, with guidance from solar scientist Professor Lucie Green of University College London. Presented at an approximate scale of 1:230 million – where each centimetre represents around 2,300 kilometres of the Sun’s surface – the work allows visitors to safely experience the extraordinary texture of our nearest star, revealing sunspots, spicules and vast solar filaments in remarkable detail.

Combining solar imagery, subtle lighting and an immersive sound composition by Duncan Speakman and Sarah Anderson, Helios offers a powerful encounter with the celestial body that sustains life on Earth while reflecting on the Sun’s enduring presence in culture, mythology, and human imagination.

Jerram comments, “I am delighted that my newest touring artwork Helios is going to be a centrepiece of The Sun and The Moon exhibition at Saatchi Gallery. This will be the first time it has been displayed in a major UK art gallery. As well as highlighting the science of the Sun, I hope that the artwork will inspire awe and wonder and prompt visitors to consider the importance of the sun in all our lives; for light, warmth, energy for our planet and how our nearest star has inspired culture and religion throughout history, all around the world.”

The second half of the exhibition commences with a transition into night. Evening switches our attention to the Moon and its role in science and imagination, exploring its phases, its observation through history and its enduring presence in literature, photography, and science fiction. This chapter includes works by Paul Nash, Dora Maar, Ellie Davies and Christopher Le Brun. Saad Qureshi’s large-scale split moon will be suspended from the ceiling.

The following gallery, Walking on the Moon, reflects on humanity’s obsession with reaching the moon and what might be found there. The presentation of works focuses on the cultural impact of the Apollo missions and the lesser-known stories behind space exploration, including the contributions of craftswomen and designers who helped make the missions possible. At its centre is Moon Landing, a collaborative work by Margo Selby and composer Helen Caddick, combining an original score with a large textile installation. The work celebrates the technical possibilities of weaving and the shared languages of mathematics, colour and rhythm found in both music and textiles. The gallery also features work by Aleksandra Mir, alongside the complete Lunar Voyage woodcut series by Tom Hammick.

The penultimate chapter, Midnight, delves into the Moon’s long association with folklore, magic, and dreams, exploring themes of myth, mysticism and the ‘witching hour’, featuring works by Paula Rego, George Wallace Jardine, Joseph Wright of Derby, Joan Miró and Marguerite Carnec.

The exhibition concludes with the Darkest Hours chapter, featuring both Massless Suns and Dark Suns and Massless Sun and Surface of the Sky by the internationally renowned collective teamLab. These immersive works present spheres of light and darkness that appear to take form in space, yet have no physical substance. Shaped by light, environment and perception, they invite reflection on the nature of existence.

teamLab comments, “We are honoured to be part of this group exhibition at Saatchi Gallery in London. For teamLab, a previous exhibition held at this gallery in 2015 holds profound significance. The exhibition, featuring artworks such as Flutter of Butterflies Beyond Borders, became the origin that led to teamLab Borderless.

This time we will exhibit artworks from our “Cognitive Sculpture” series, which appear only in the human world of perception. The materials are light and the environment. And the subject of its creation is the viewer's own body and perception. The spheres cannot exist on their own – its existence is a phenomenon created in relation to its environment. The phenomenon created by the environment is shaped for the first time by the dynamic body and perception of the viewer, becoming a sculpture in their cognitive world.

The boundaries of the artwork are ambiguous, and its existence is inseparably continuous with the environment and perception.”

At a moment when many are reflecting on our relationship to the natural world, The Sun and The Moon invites visitors to look upward and reconsider these familiar presences in our sky, bringing together art, science, and myth to explore how they influence the ways we understand the world around us.

Saatchi Gallery Lates will take place on 19 June, 24 July, 21 August, 4 September and more dates to be announced, featuring drawing classes, workshops, and creative activations.

Tickets from £13 are available to book online from 15 April 2026 at saatchigallery.com. Members go free.

Featured artists include: Akiko Hirai, Aleksandra Mir, Alexander Mackenzie, Álvaro Barrington, Álvaro Petritoli, Anders Scrmn Meisner, Andrew Millar, Anna Sampson, Annelie Solis, Anwar Jalal Shemza, Anwar Saeed, Arthur Rackham, Audrey Large, Barbara Hepworth, Ben Drury, Ben Edge, Bernard Cheese, Billy Childish, Blair Hughes-Stanton, Bridget Riley, Bunmi Agusto, Camile Sproesser, Carl-Henning Pedersen, Carol Bramley, Carol Puruntatameri, Carolein Smit, Cecil Collins, Christiane Baumgartner, Christopher Le Brun, Dan Hillier, Darcey Fleming, Dave McKean, David Shrigley, Dindga McCannon, Dora Maar, Douglas Gray, Elisabeth Deane, Elisabeth Vellacott, Elizabeth Loveday, Ellie Davies, Ellis O’Connor, Else Alfelt, Emilie Pugh, Evelyn De Morgan, Evelyn Dunbar, Francis Edwin Hodge, Frank Bernard Dicksee, Freya Pocklington, fuchsia, Fumie Onuki, Gali Yalkarriwuy Gurriwiwi, Gareth Cadwallader, George Jardine, George Méliès, George Turner, Gill Button, Harry Adams, Helen Caddick, Henrietta Hoyer Millar, Henry Hudson, Henry Moore, Ilma Savari (Ugiobari), Isobel Church, Ithell Colquhoun, Jack Coutu, Jaclyn Conley, Jai Khanna, James Heath, Jamie Hewlett, Jem Finer & Jimmy Cauty, Jim Lambie, Jitish Kallat, Joan Miró, Joe Webb, John Russell, John Titchell, Joseph Wright of Derby, Kate Montgomery, Katie Paterson, Kay Gasei, Kimberley Gundle, Klaus Janson, Leonora Carrington, Lian Zhang, Lucy Mahon, Luke Jerram, LunaTronix, Malcolm Dakin, Maqbool Fida Husain, Marcel Dzama, Marcos Kueh, Margo Selby, Marguerite Carnec, Marj Bond, Mark Connolly, Maro Gorky, Martha Rosler, Martyn Cross, Michael Rothenstein, Monica Sjöö, Muzae Sesay, Nancy Holt, Oliver McConnie, Olivia Fraser, Orla Kane, Otto Piene, Owain Kirby, Patrick Caulfield, Paula Rego, Paula Turmina, Peter Doig, Rabia S. Akhtar, Raqs Media Collective, Richard McVetis, Roya Bahram, Rune Christensen, Russell-Hawkes Company, Rusty Peters, S. Drinot, Saad Qureshi, Sam Douglas, Sam Riley, Sanmu Kunisada, Sekai Machache, Shanti Panchal, Shezad Dawood, Sigrid Holmwood, Sinta Tantra, Sky Glabush, Sophie Crockett, Sophie Smorczewski, Stanislav Filko, Stanley Donwood, Su Blackwell, Sue Thatcher, Sunju Jin, Susan Derges, Suzanne Treister, Syotatsu Ekaki, teamLab, Terry Frost, Thelma Ayre, Thomas Hooper, Tom Davidson, Tom Hammick, Valentine Dobrée, Whatshisname, William Hogarth, William John Charles Pitcher, Yinka Ilori, Zak Ové.

Curatorial project partners include: Royal Museums Greenwich, The Salisbury Museum, The Atlantis Bookshop

Read more about Cazenove Capital’s sponsorship here: Saatchi Gallery – The Sun and The Moon | Summer 2026