WADDESDON.- This spring, an exhibition featuring new and recent work by the internationally celebrated artist Bruce Munro (b.1959) will open at Waddesdon Manor. It will also feature the first UK father-daughter collaboration between Bruce and his daughter, Tink Munro (b.1996).

Four Seasons will explore time and place in a series of new large-scale indoor installations, featuring projections, light, digital photography and fabric art, to explore the seasonal changes that punctuate our lives, as well as the music and memories that they inspire.

Bruce Munro has a deep and familiar connection to Waddesdon, stretching back over a decade, including a 4-year artistic residency which introduced the Manor’s light art programme. His work has been exhibited around the world, from the USA and Australia to Japan and Scandinavia.

Now he will bring a new version of his 2016 creation Four Seasons to the newly refurbished Coach House at the Stables in its inaugural exhibition.

The work comprises of a mandala of four-leaf-shaped forms. Across the surface, animated veins of Morse Code – colour-coded for each season – transmit the photosynthesis equation, generating a random rhythmic pulse as the forms animate with threads of light.

Opposite her father’s work will be Tink Munro’s own take on seasonal change, Four Seasons (2026).

Drawing on her experience of making tree-inspired artwork, she has now created 72 individual pieces from filigrees of bark cloth which grouped together produce an ethereal and contemplative work. Backlit and with intricate detail, the piece will showcase the hidden processes of growth that occur in the earth.

Also displayed will be a new work by Bruce. Music and light will combine to create an illuminated accompaniment to a selection of piano recordings taken from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. Eighty-Eight (2026) is inspired by the 88 keys of a piano with four circles of 22 illuminated elements. Each mounted sculpture will illuminate every time its corresponding key is played.

And a third series of works will bring together new and recent images that will take visitors through the four seasons by land, sea and air.

Time and Place (2018-ongoing) traces the years Munro spent capturing moments and experiences through the lens. Inspired by a lifelong interest in photography - from instamatic cameras to 35mm to 360-degree smart phone photos - Munro distils the feelings that resonate from visiting far-flung places into new circular patterns of colour. By reinterpreting photography in this way, visitors will be transported by the memories of South African mountains, Devonshire coastal paths, Arizonian lakes, Bruce’s snow-covered Wiltshire home and the emotions they inspire.

Four Seasons promises to be a unique and illuminating display of connection and feeling, inspired by the splendour of the natural world around all of us and the seasonal cycles of life.

Bruce says “It’s a great privilege to be exhibiting at Waddesdon again, especially as it’s my first collaboration with my youngest daughter Tink. Four Seasons conjures up many thoughts and emotions and it feels timely to seek inspiration, guidance and solace from nature. It is the beauty of the natural world as it morphs through time and space that captures my imagination.”

Tink added “Having visited Waddesdon on multiple occasions, I have always been struck by its beauty, from the architecture to the gardens - always an unforgettable experience. It is an honour to exhibit my latest artworks in such a space, alongside my dad, Bruce, who has been a constant source of inspiration to me. I am very much looking forward to presenting the work to the public.”

Pippa Shirley, Director of Waddesdon says “The natural world and the ceaseless rhythms of time and light have inspired artists for centuries and for Bruce Munro has been a continual source of creativity. This exhibition is the beginning of a year-long exploration of art and nature at Waddesdon, and Bruce’s chosen medium, light, is perhaps the most appropriate of all for his subject, since the seasons are governed by the sun, and at this moment of climate uncertainty when so much of the natural world is being challenged, what better time could there be to remind ourselves of its beauty and ability to connect us to each other and the environment.

I’m also delighted that Bruce is returning to Waddesdon after playing such an important part in our contemporary art programme over the years and even more so that the next generation is represented in his daughter Tink’s work and is similarly rooted in nature, place and connection. These are themes which resonate deeply with visitors who I think will find themselves drawn into the light and soundscapes of this thoughtful, immersive exhibition.”