Conor Ackhurst is a visual artist. He works predominantly in sculpture and installation as well as video, print and performance. Ackhurst creates installations that feature assemblages of found materials framed by structures. These structures frame spaces that are typically considered 'safe' for humans, yet they have been condensed in a way that evoke a sense of tension or danger, such as the crushed interior of a car, a passageway transformed into an impossible collision of doors, or a cave narrowed to claustrophobic proportions. This simulated world-building acts as a confrontation with potential violence, presenting it as a boundary experience.
In 2023 Ackhurst was one of the finalists for the CIRCA prize, his film screened at Piccadilly Circus, as well as on screens in Berlin and Milan. In this year he also received the Developing Your Creative Practice grant from Arts Council England. His work has been exhibited in London, UK; Berlin, Germany; Stara Zagora, Bulgaria; Milan, Italy and Puebla and Chemuyil, Mexico. In 2022 Ackhurst was awarded the OMNI Award and in 2015 he was nominated for the National Open Art, Moving Image Award. He has been invited to residencies in Bulgaria and two in Mexico.
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In 2023 Ackhurst was one of the finalists for the CIRCA prize, his film screened at Piccadilly Circus, as well as on screens in Berlin and Milan. In this year he also received the Developing Your Creative Practice grant from Arts Council England. His work has been exhibited in London, UK; Berlin, Germany; Stara Zagora, Bulgaria; Milan, Italy and Puebla and Chemuyil, Mexico. In 2022 Ackhurst was awarded the OMNI Award and in 2015 he was nominated for the National Open Art, Moving Image Award. He has been invited to residencies in Bulgaria and two in Mexico.
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Conor Ackhurst, 190e and the EMD GP40-2 (2024). Image Courtesy of the artist.
Installation view: Conor Ackhurst, Crumple Zone (12 November - 6 December 2024) at Soft Commodity, London. Image Courtesy of the artist.
Conor Ackhurst, Grounded (2024). Image Courtesy of the artist. Photography by Gillies Adamson Semple.
Installation view: Conor Ackhurst, Grounded (5 – 26 October 2024) at St. Chads Gallery, London. Image Courtesy of the artist. Photography by Gillies Adamson Semple.
Conor Ackhurst, CIRCA prize 2023. 
Conor Ackhurst, Interrupted Sequence (2024). Image Courtesy of the artist.
Conor Ackhurst, Cutterhead #1 (2022). Image Courtesy of the artist.
Conor Ackhurst, Revolving Passage (2018). Image Courtesy of the artist.
Conor Ackhurst, Sediment (2018). Image Courtesy of the artist.