Summer Exhibition 2016

Disappointing year for this annual exhibition at the Royal Academy.

Maybe I’ve been to too many Summer Exhibitions but not much jumped off the walls at me this year. As ever it was interesting to spot the usual suspects and to be introduced to new artists but I didn’t come away wanting to buy anything. In places it felt a bit over curated. I prefer the rooms that are just a wonderful jumble of work.

So highlights! A number of David Tindle’s works struck me particularly “Windows and Walls”. I’m always a sucker for a view through a window. Talking of which I loved Trevor Dannatt’s “24th of January 2016” a tiny picture of the full moon from a suburban window.

Frederick Cumming was a new find to me doing wonderful seascapes. Another seascape was a long small piece by Alison Watt-Cooper.

I loved Chris Orr’s “Painting and engraving Tower Bridge” which was a wonderful picture of the Thames incorporating the picture he is working on in the foreground and an old clipper on the water like a ghost ship. A different city but a similar idea was “David Renfry’s “Hudson from the Hotel Chelsea”, a long city scape along the river.

Interesting sculptures included Aono Fumiakki’s reuse of ceramic pieces found after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan for example one bringing together books and a sake bottle. They gave a real sense of preserving the past and marking an event. Who could resist the two sculptures of dogs by Annie Whiles who sit in a corner of the room and stare in wonderment at the art? You can’t help but lean down to their level to work out what they are looking at.

The most stunning piece was Kutlug Ataman’s wonderful installation of small LCD panels which created an undulating ceiling on one of the rooms. It was made up of small portraits and gave the impression of a giant high school year book. The pictures change giving the idea of pulsating light though the work.

Closed on 21 August 2016.

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