David Ward (b. 1951) attended Wolverhampton School of Art (1968 – 69) and Winchester School of Art (1969 – 1973). He is known for his work in a range of light and time-based media, including installations, photography, performance, film, sound and painting. The body and the dynamics of light are central to his work. Language, written and spoken, appears within his work in the form of live and recorded readings and poetic texts.

Ward has also collaborated with other artists, choreographers, architects and composers. He has been artist-in-residence at King’s College, Cambridge, Harvard University, Durham Cathedral and was a Research Fellow at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds. His work is represented in a number of public collections including Tate, The National Portrait Gallery, Arts Council England, the Fogg Museum at Harvard Art Museums and the Pier Arts Centre, Orkney.

He has curated exhibitions, film programmes and events including co-selecting The British Art Show 3 in 1990 and more recently, co-curating the exhibition Seeing Round Corners at Turner Contemporary, Margate in 2016. Ward writes and has taught widely, including at Goldsmiths College, London (1987-95), Harvard University (1994), Glasgow School of Art (1995-97), the Architectural Association, London (1998-2005) and at the Department of Architecture, Westminster University, London (1998-2005). He continues to lecture occasionally and to contribute to educational events.

David Ward’s Touching Light is open from 4th October 2025 in the Gallery and Orangery.