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140714 : Royal Academy of Arts – Piccadilly site Summer Exhibition 2014
Royal Academy of Arts – Piccadilly site
Summer Exhibition 2014
09.06.2014 – 17.08. 2014
On a Voyage of Discovery
By Wolfgang Pichler
That it's even possible to hold one's ground on the presently most sought-after international art market, namely that in London, with a very low profile and anything but an elite exhibition, is a small wonder in itself. That a then really exciting exhibition with over 1,200 works emerges can only succeed when an institution like the Royal Academy of Arts is behind the project. And thus, this year's Summer Exhibition is not only impressively colourful and diverse, but is also the latest link in a history spanning a century. Because what began under the leadership of Joshua Reynolds is a permanent institution today and every year, over 10,000 artists apply to take part in the most anonymised synopsis of British art. What comes out of that is an unbelievable concentration of works in Petersburg hanging distributed amongst the large and small rooms of Burlington House, home of the Royal Academy.
A Sean Scully hangs beside a completely unknown amateur painter. As always, Zaha Hadid shows wonderfully swung structures in the form of perfectly calculated models. They easily compete with the also very impressive sculpture created by David Nash from a charred sequoia. But without a doubt, this year's best object comes from Charles Hewlings. He has created a wonderful structure from an iron bar bent at a right angle, wood and glass which seems to incorporate the entire room in a congenial manner. An almost white-in-white India ink and pencil drawing by Tao DuFour is also amongst the outstanding pictures in the show, such as a series called Smiley Faces by Tracey Emin. Also impressive and a wonderful gouache called Tide by Christopher Sawtell, which is to be found in the Small Weston Room amongst small works hung extremely closely together.
And so one could – as intended by the "curators" – go on a voyage of discovery and buy the one or other work, because great art is up for sale here from 200 (limited prints) to £370,000 (Baselitz "In London Step by Step").
Royal Academy of Arts - Piccadilly site
W1J 0BD London, Burlington House, Piccadilly
http://www.royalacademy.org.uk
140714
Royal Academy of Arts - Piccadilly site
W1J 0BD London, Burlington House, Piccadilly
http://www.royalacademy.org.uk
Royal Academy of Arts - Piccadilly site
W1J 0BD London, Burlington House, Piccadilly
http://www.royalacademy.org.uk
