This winter we proudly present a selection of works by British/Australian artist Bruce Munro, which explore his life-long interrogation of light and how it affects emotions and memory. The exhibition includes two-dimensional works influenced by Munro’s long connection to this area of Devon, and runs alongside his spectacular light installation Salcombe Field of Light, marking the RNLI’s 200th anniversary, on show opposite Salcombe Harbour until the 10th January 2025. 

Bruce Munro is an internationally recognised artist with a practice centred on immersive light-based installations, often in locations of outstanding beauty. His works have been exhibited across the world and are currently on long-term display in California, Japan and Australia, including his best-known work, Field of Light, at Uluru in Australia’s red centre. His association with South Devon goes back to childhood, when he would visit his father during school holidays, roaming the cliffs and sketching in the coves. Munro’s ongoing practice, which is largely inspired by his interest in shared human experience, originates in the ideas he records in his sketchbooks, a habit that has continued from boyhood and throughout his life. By this means he has captured his responses to stimuli such as music, literature, science and the world around him, for reference, reflection, and as subject matter. The resulting works include both monumental artworks as well as intimate story-pieces.

The collection here at Velarde explores his 2-D experiments in abstraction, through lens-based wall hangings and smaller 3-D light installations. They centre on fleeting moments of connectivity and the great patterns of nature, phenomena we can sense but which remain elusive. In selecting works for this exhibition, Munro expresses the sources of inspiration in nature, philosophy and science that drive his practice, whether on an intimate or massive scale. It is also a thank you to this corner of Devon and a meditation on the importance of place. He says: “After 60 years, I feel like I’m coming home.”