Royal Academy of Arts

Summer Exhibition 2015

08 Jun - 16 Aug 2015

Michael Craig-Martin RA chose the joyous colour of Gallery III
Michael Craig-Martin RA maintains that “magenta enhances the colours and form” of the individual works selected to hang in Gallery III
Photo: John Bodkin © Royal Academy of Arts
Mick Rooney RA hung the works in Gallery VIII
Included in Gallery VIII is a memorial display to the late William Bowyer RA
Photo: John Bodkin © Royal Academy of Arts
Sculpture is the focus in the Lecture Room this year
Bill Woodrow RA and Alison Wilding RA placed the artworks in this gallery, focusing on sculpture
Photography: John Bodkin, DawkinsColour. © Royal Academy of Arts
The print galleries, hung by Norman Ackroyd RA
Photography: John Bodkin, DawkinsColour. © Royal Academy of Arts
A sculpture by Ron Arad RA in Gallery IV
The painter David Remfry RA initially assumed that this gallery would contain mainly figurative works, but abstract paintings have found a place here too
Photography: John Bodkin, DawkinsColour. © Royal Academy of Arts
Gallery V, hung by Norman Ackroyd RA
Mimmo Paladino Hon RA’s bronze sculpture sits in the centre of Gallery V, in which many of the print works are hung
Photography: John Bodkin, DawkinsColour. © Royal Academy of Arts
The Wohl Central Hall, hung by Michael Craig-Martin RA
Matthew Darbyshire’s figure Doryphoros is placed in the centre of the Wohl Central Hall
Photography: John Bodkin, DawkinsColour. © Royal Academy of Arts
Anish Kapoor RA in Gallery VI
This work, by Anish Kapoor RA, is placed in the centre of Gallery VI, hung by Michael Craig-Martin RA
Photography: John Bodkin, DawkinsColour. © Royal Academy of Arts
The Large Weston Room
This year, the Architecture Gallery in the Large Weston Room is themed ‘Inventive Landscape’
Photography: John Bodkin, DawkinsColour. © Royal Academy of Arts
Andrew Lord's glazed ceramic sculptures
In the Wohl Central Hall, the eye is immediately drawn towards Andrew Lord’s glazed ceramic sculptures, In Electric Light, in the Studio (Gauguin)
Photography: John Bodkin, DawkinsColour. © Royal Academy of Arts
SUMMER EXHIBITION 2015
8 June — 16 August 2015

Get ready to discover your new favourite artist as we head into a summer of colour at the RA. From painting to installation art, you’ll find it all at the Summer Exhibition.

“The Summer Exhibition has never looked so impressive” – The Times

“A bastion of the English cultural summer” – The Telegraph

“It’s the best Summer Exhibition I have seen” – Evening Standard

For 247 years, the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition has offered a snapshot of contemporary art – and this year’s exhibition is a riot of colour, variety and discovery with over 1,100 works spilling out from our galleries.

In the courtyard, visitors are confronted by a towering formation of steel ‘clouds’, created by Royal Academician Conrad Shawcross, before Jim Lambie’s kaleidoscopic stairs lead up to the Main Galleries.

This year, the exhibition is co-ordinated by Michael Craig-Martin RA – a leading artist of his generation and the teacher who nurtured the talents of Gary Hume, Sarah Lucas and Damien Hirst. His distinctive creative vision has resulted in room after room bursting with variety, colour and remarkable new work by leading and emerging artists – all handpicked from over 12,000 entries.

The Summer Exhibition is the world’s oldest open-submission exhibition: its earliest exhibitors included the likes of Reynolds, Constable and Turner. With many works in the exhibition on sale, the show also gives you a chance to own some original art while supporting the historic Royal Academy schools; artwork sales help us to continue the free tuition that we have offered for nearly 250 years.

With everything from painting, printmaking and sculpture through to installation, photography and film, this is a show unlike any other. We hope you’ll join us for a vibrant summer of colour.
 

Tags: Damien Hirst, Gary Hume, Jim Lambie, Sarah Lucas, Conrad Shawcross