Summer Exhibition 2008 - Royal Academy
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
NOW in its 240th year, the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition 2008, takes place from June 9 to August 17.
As always, the exhibition will continue the tradition of displaying a wide range of new work by both established and unknown artists in all media, including painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture and architecture.
This year’s co-ordinators, Royal Academicians Gordon Benson, Tony Cragg and Humphrey Ocean, will select works for the exhibition around the theme of Man Made.
The Summer Exhibition attracts many entrants each year. In 2007, for example, around 13,000 works were submitted. The majority of selected works will be on sale, offering visitors a unique opportunity to purchase original artwork by high profile and up-and-coming artists. David Hockney, Lucian Freud, Julian Opie and Gavin Turk were among those who exhibited last year.
Highlights of this year’s exhibition will include a gallery curated by Tracey Emin RA; Stephen Chambers RA will be overseeing the popular Print Room; and a gallery with a memorial display will be devoted to the late RB Kitaj RA. Marco Livingstone will assist the Royal Academy in the curation of this gallery.
And following the success of last year’s BBC series on the Summer Exhibition, BBC2 will be presenting a Culture Show special in June.
Memorial Artist, RB Kitaj RA (1932 – 2007)
Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1932, RB Kitaj studied at the Academy of Fine Art in Vienna, the Ruskin School of Drawing in Oxford and the Royal College of Art in London. Retrospectives of his work were held at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC in 1981 and at the Tate Gallery in London in 1994.
Kitaj was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1982. He also received Honorary Doctorates from the University of London, the Royal College of Art and Durham University. He received the Golden Lion for Painting at the Venice Biennale in 1995 and in 1997 won the Wollaston Award for the most distinguished work in the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition.
In 1996, he was nominated Chevalier des Arts and des Lettres by the French Government. Kitaj was elected Royal Academician in 1991 (ARA in 1984). From 1997, he lived and worked in Los Angeles.
Annenberg Courtyard
A large sculpture by Anthony Caro RA, Promenade, has been chosen for the Courtyard and will be installed in late May.
Prizes
Each year, the Summer Exhibition recognises artists of exceptional merit, awarding a total of £70,000 prize money donated by commercial and industrial sponsors.
Established in 1978, the Royal Academy of Arts Charles Wollaston Award is, at £25,000, one of the largest and most prestigious art prizes in Britain. Previous winners include Gavin Turk (2007), Jake and Dinos Chapman (2003), Alan Charlton (2002), Marc Quinn (2001), Gerard Hemsworth (2000), David Hockney (1999), John Hoyland (1998) and RB Kitaj (1997).
Alongside the Summer Exhibition 2008, the Royal Academy of Arts will be running a diverse programme of events, evening lectures and gallery talks. Dedicated events for families will include gallery talks and workshops. For children aged between eight and 13, there will be a free printed guide sheet to the exhibition. Activity trays, including art materials, will also be available for younger visitors to create their own works of art.
Admission: £7; £6 – over 60s and registerd disabled; £5 – NUS; £4 – 12-18 years and Income Support; £3 – 8-11 years; Free – aged 7 and under.
Times: Daily from 10am to 6pm (last admission 5:30pm); Fridays until 10pm (last admission 9:30pm).
For more information and tickets call 0870848 8484 or visit the website.