Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition

So, you may have noticed that I have not blogged for a few weeks.  Mainly due to a combination of my RA flaring and leaving me exhausted and the 'pay the bills' job being in overdrive and taking up much more than the 40 hrs a week it is meant to!  Not a great combination.

In an effort to break the cycle, hubby and I decided to book a very last minute break in London for a long weekend.  We did lots of 'arty' stuff but the main reason was the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition.  We have been going for the last few years and this year was a fabulous mix of different styles and mediums.  

The Summer Exhibition has been running for 247 years, which in itself is amazing in its own right.   It is sometimes accused of  being stuck in the past however 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.  It really showed, some of the room were painted bright colours and complemented the art.

I took lots of photos and these are just a few, I make no apologies for the photo heavy content of this post, if you'd like to see some of the art then please feel free to scroll down and enjoy.

 This sculpture was made from plastic sheets, similar to the sort you make conservatory roofs from, painstakingly cut and layered to create the figure.

 The art varies in size from large to small and intricate

 This one was created from various layers (like a tunnel book).

 When you looked through the apertures you caught a glimpse of the picture behind

 It gave me a feeling of snooping as you caught glimpses of life behind the curtains

 This piece was within a large glass block and the way it was cut meant you saw different views depending on where you stood

This giant head was made from coat-hangers!

 Some of the pieces were slightly disturbing

 Others blew me away

 The detail in this piece was breathtaking

 I love the fact that famous, infamous and the public can all submit pieces for consideration.  This was a large tapestry by Grayson Perry (we have been lucky enough to see a couple of his exhibitions over the years)

 The serenity of this painting was a joy

 Jim Lambie’s kaleidoscopic stairs lead up to the Main Galleries. It was really weird being able to walk over a piece of art!

 Outside you are greeted by the towering formation of steel 'clouds' by Conrad Shawcross

A fabulous trip and if you are in London over the summer and love art then I recommend a trip to the RA.  I will blog about the other exhibition we went to over the coming week or so.

Kyla