When The Sun Chased The Moon: A Celestial Odyssey Through Art, Myth And Human Imagination At Saatchi Gallery

In an old British folk telling, the Sun and the Moon were once siblings destined never to rest. 

The Sun strode endlessly across the heavens, blazing with certainty and command, while the Moon drifted in silver solitude, gathering dreams, secrets and longing from the sleeping world below. 

Forever pursuing one another yet never truly meeting, they became symbols of humanity’s oldest fascination: the eternal dance between light and darkness, reason and mystery, science and belief.

It is precisely this ancient tension that electrifies The Sun and The Moon: Art Inspired by the Celestial, the extraordinary summer exhibition at Saatchi Gallery, running until 8 September 2026.

For a contemporary artist from Alor Setar visiting London with his wife while spending the summer with their children studying in Britain, the exhibition arrives not merely as an afternoon diversion but as a revelation. 

Stepping into one of the world’s most influential contemporary art institutions, he finds himself entering a universe where mythology, astronomy, memory, ritual and imagination collide with astonishing force.

Occupying two floors and nine gallery spaces, the exhibition unfolds like a complete 24-hour cycle. Visitors journey from dawn to daylight, sunset to midnight, tracing humanity’s evolving relationship with the two celestial bodies that have governed existence since the beginning of time.

The concept is deceptively simple. The execution is magnificent.

Works by artists including Barbara Hepworth, Patrick Caulfield, Paula Rego, Peter Doig, Joan Miró, Dora Maar, Yinka Ilori, Luke Jerram and the internationally acclaimed collective teamLab are brought together alongside historical artefacts, scientific references, textiles, photography, sculpture, fashion and immersive installations. The result is less an exhibition than an intellectual constellation.

The opening chapters explore how early civilisations transformed the Sun and Moon into gods, guardians and cosmic rulers. Standing before ancient objects and contemporary interpretations, the Malaysian artist is reminded of Southeast Asia’s own celestial narratives: of Malay fishermen navigating by moonlight, of solar symbolism woven into royal regalia, and of ancient agricultural calendars shaped by lunar rhythms. 

Across continents and centuries, the same story emerges repeatedly. Humanity has always looked upward to understand itself.

As Saatchi Gallery Director Paul Foster observes, the exhibition invites reflection on “objects in the sky that we too often take for granted but which represent amazing and beautiful essentials to all life on Earth.”

Indeed, one of the exhibition’s greatest achievements lies in demonstrating that the Sun and Moon transcend religion. They belong to everyone.

Long before organised faiths emerged, people built monuments aligned with solstices. They tracked lunar cycles to plant crops, predict tides and mark time. Celestial imagery found its way into architecture, textiles, theatre, literature and eventually fashion. 

Even today, luxury houses, contemporary designers and visual artists continue to draw upon solar radiance and lunar mysticism as powerful aesthetic languages.

The exhibition’s emotional centrepiece arrives in the form of British artist Luke Jerram’s monumental Helios.

Suspended like a divine apparition, the six-metre illuminated Sun dominates the gallery space with breathtaking authority. 

Constructed using detailed imagery derived from NASA observations and astrophotography, the sculpture reveals solar filaments, sunspots and fiery textures usually invisible to the naked eye. Visitors do not merely observe the Sun; they encounter it.

It is impossible not to feel humbled.

Elsewhere, Nancy Holt’s seminal Sun Tunnels film remains quietly profound, while Darcey Fleming’s agricultural-inspired Totem and Bryony Ella’s poetic My Body Is A Sundial examine humanity’s intimate physical relationship with sunlight, memory and time.

Yet the exhibition’s most haunting moments emerge after dusk.

As the narrative shifts toward evening and moonlight, visitors encounter works exploring lunar observation, exploration and imagination. A suspended split moon by Saad Qureshi commands attention, while Margo Selby’s Moon Landing celebrates the overlooked craftsmanship and mathematical precision underpinning space exploration.

Then comes midnight.

The atmosphere darkens. Folklore, dreams and mysticism take over. Paula Rego’s psychological intensity converses with centuries of superstition, reminding viewers that the Moon has always occupied a curious place between scientific object and emotional symbol.

The exhibition culminates in perhaps its most transcendent chapter: the immersive installations of teamLab.

Massless Suns and Dark Suns and Massless Sun and Surface of the Sky transform light itself into sculpture. Floating spheres appear simultaneously present and absent, existing only through perception and interaction. 

The works embody teamLab’s belief that reality is not fixed but co-created between viewer and environment.

As the collective explains, “The materials are light and the environment. And the subject of its creation is the viewer’s own body and perception.”

The effect is mesmerising. Visitors become participants rather than spectators.

That spirit of accessibility and intellectual curiosity has long defined Saatchi Gallery itself.

Founded by advertising visionary Charles Saatchi—the co-founder of the legendary advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi—the institution has spent four decades championing emerging artists and challenging conventional ideas about contemporary art. 

Since opening in 1985 and later relocating to Chelsea’s Duke of York’s Headquarters, it has welcomed millions of visitors while helping launch the careers of numerous artists who would go on to achieve international acclaim.

Its enduring significance lies not simply in exhibiting art but in shaping conversations around it.

That mission feels particularly urgent today.

Supported by headline sponsor Cazenove Capital, whose Deputy Chief Executive Dominic Emmerson describes the exhibition as “a compelling exploration of how creativity shapes our understanding of the world,” The Sun and The Moon arrives at a moment when humanity is once again questioning its relationship with nature, technology and the cosmos.

More than an exhibition, it is an invitation.

An invitation to reconsider the forces that govern our lives. To recognise that ancient myths and modern astrophysics are not opposing narratives but complementary attempts to explain wonder. 

To understand that every civilisation, from Britain to Malaysia, from ancient Mesopotamia to contemporary London, has sought meaning beneath the same sky.

And perhaps most importantly, to remember that despite all our technological achievements, we remain creatures who still look upward.

Before the Sun disappears beyond the horizon.

Before the Moon slips silently into darkness.

Before this remarkable exhibition closes its celestial doors.

For tickets and more information, visit https://www.saatchigallery.com/ today. 

*Photos courtesy of Saatchi Gallery.