Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition: A Mixed Bag of Art
The Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition: A Mixed Bag of Art
This year's RA Summer Exhibition is less awful than usual. It's still full of some of the worst art you've ever seen – way too many Michael Craig-Martins and Bob and Roberta Smiths – but its awfulness is definitely a bit less awful.
The Event Details
Ryan Gander, the conceptual artist who is the coordinator of this year's exhibition, has brought a little bit of strangeness to this stuffy old show, a bit of weird discomfort to the world's oldest open submission exhibition, where amateurs get to have their tiny drawing of a flower totally eclipsed by a massive Tracey Emin nude.
The Data Analysis
The exhibition features a wide range of artworks, including paintings, sculptures, and installations. Some notable pieces include:
- Two paintings of cars on fire by Harry Hill
- A video of a bloke doing Bowie karaoke
- A disembodied corpse sits on a chair
- A pair of silver boots have been dumped on a plinth
The Impact Analysis
The Summer Exhibition is an anachronistic exercise in cramming as much art and as many viewers into a space as possible. A mix of the awful and less awful is exactly what you'd expect.
The Prediction
The Summer Exhibition 2026 is at the Royal Academy, London, from 16 June to 23 August. If you're looking for a unique art experience, this might be worth a visit.