Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2020

Slightly lack lustre Royal Academy Summer Exhibition however in the circumstances it was amazing they had managed to put it on and a breath of fresh air to have at least one seasonal event actually happen.

I say lack lustre as very little either struck me as so beautiful I wanted to own it or so cutting edge that it pushed boundaries. It was interesting to see works by Royal Academician’s I’d seen in other shows appear here and works by artists I’d seen at the Venice Biennale last year.

One theme which seemed to emerge was portraits and I wondered if this was a result of lockdown and people painting what was available to them ie their families. I loved the life sized lady shown here by Eugene Palmer who smiled at you from quite high up in the Large Weston Room and in the same room two striking double portraits by Joy Labinjo.

I also spotted a number of works using the troupe of Blue and White China to which I am always attracted, Susan Marston’s reassumed patchwork of pieces, Ai Weiwei’s large vases depicting war and refugee’s and Paul Scott’s triptych of original red and white plates over painting in blue and white, in the same style, of scenes from Palestine.

My favourite hang was two paintings of dresses, one in white and one in black, by Lisa Milroy, hung above “Full Stop” by Tess Jaray, four circle of black and white.

Since I went the gallery has sadly gone into lockdown again but there is a good virtual tour on YouTube which gives a good sense of what it was like to walk around the show.

Closes 3 January 2021

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