Contents
Sponsor’s Foreword
6
President’s Foreword
8
Introduction Jock McFadyen RA
11
Catalogue
36
Index
188
Members of the Royal Academy of Arts
190
Photographic Acknowledgements
192
Contents
Sponsor’s Foreword
6
President’s Foreword
8
Introduction Jock McFadyen RA
11
Catalogue
36
Index
188
Members of the Royal Academy of Arts
190
Photographic Acknowledgements
192
Sponsor’s Foreword
The Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition is a truly remarkable event, significant for its longevity – it has now run without interruption for more than 250 years – and for its role as the world’s largest open-submission exhibition. Each year it creates an opportunity for artists from all backgrounds to be associated with a momentous cultural event which commands international attention. Inevitably, this results in a vibrant selection of surprising and often challenging submissions from some of the world’s most exciting contemporary artists. Visitors to this year’s exhibition will find an intriguing array of works assembled under the curatorial stewardship of the acclaimed British painter Jock McFayden RA who, as part of his contribution, has installed an animal-themed ‘menagerie’ in the Wohl Central Hall. The exhibition reaches throughout the RA’s galleries, exploring themes of light and time, and then spills out beyond the building itself with sculptural work in the courtyard and a colourful installation on nearby Bond Street. Insight’s association with the Summer Exhibition has now continued for more than a decade. We are honoured to play a role in its enduring success and I have personally always found it to be an inspiring forum for encountering new work by both established and emerging artists. We hope everyone who experiences this year’s selection will share our enthusiasm for this truly unique display of artistic endeavour.
Abdallah Nauphal Chief Executive Officer
6
Sponsor’s Foreword
The Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition is a truly remarkable event, significant for its longevity – it has now run without interruption for more than 250 years – and for its role as the world’s largest open-submission exhibition. Each year it creates an opportunity for artists from all backgrounds to be associated with a momentous cultural event which commands international attention. Inevitably, this results in a vibrant selection of surprising and often challenging submissions from some of the world’s most exciting contemporary artists. Visitors to this year’s exhibition will find an intriguing array of works assembled under the curatorial stewardship of the acclaimed British painter Jock McFayden RA who, as part of his contribution, has installed an animal-themed ‘menagerie’ in the Wohl Central Hall. The exhibition reaches throughout the RA’s galleries, exploring themes of light and time, and then spills out beyond the building itself with sculptural work in the courtyard and a colourful installation on nearby Bond Street. Insight’s association with the Summer Exhibition has now continued for more than a decade. We are honoured to play a role in its enduring success and I have personally always found it to be an inspiring forum for encountering new work by both established and emerging artists. We hope everyone who experiences this year’s selection will share our enthusiasm for this truly unique display of artistic endeavour.
Abdallah Nauphal Chief Executive Officer
6
President’s Foreword Christopher Le Brun
8
To follow the great success of last year’s Summer Exhibition, which marked the 250th anniversary of the Royal Academy, was never going to be an easy task. We were delighted by the enthusiasm with which visitors greeted that show, making it the most popular for a hundred years and underpinning the Summer Exhibition’s continued role in an increasingly complex art world with so many different opportunities to see and enjoy contemporary art. The reception of last year’s exhibition gave a sense of confidence to the committee, with the painter Jock McFadyen as chief co-ordinator this year. This is detectable in the overall feel of the exhibition, as well as in the individual focus of each of the galleries. With an overarching emphasis on art that reflects the world we live in, members of the committee have taken this theme in different directions. The architect Spencer de Grey has examined the sustainability of modern architecture, illustrating how practices have long focused on reducing the carbon footprint of their buildings through innovative methods of sourcing and construction. Barbara Rae reflects the same urgent concerns in her gallery, which contains both abstract and figurative works that celebrate the beauty of the outer regions of the world and remind us of the fragility of the planet. A grouping of wild and domestic animals in the Wohl Central Hall further reminds us of humankind’s responsibility to nature. Hughie O’Donoghue balances these themes in his gallery, which is mostly occupied with considerations of human existence. The depiction of the human form can also be seen in Timothy Hyman’s room where drawings are strongly featured with each work selected for the quality of its draughtsmanship. Anne Desmet and Barbara Rae reveal very different aspects of contemporary printmaking, and between their two galleries they have assembled a rich selection of techniques and themes. In the Lecture Room Stephen Chambers has delivered a masterclass in hanging works together that provide an array of different modes of expression. This is balanced by the denser pattern-dominated hang by Jock McFadyen in Gallery III, the largest and grandest of the Academy’s spaces. Richard Wilson has overseen sculpture across the entire exhibition, carefully placing works which chime with the context and theme of each gallery. On the Summer Exhibition Committee for the first time this year are Bob and Roberta Smith and Jane and Louise Wilson. The constant renewal of the Summer Exhibition is dependent on these fresh perspectives. The Wilsons have brought their knowledge and sensitivity for light-based work to their gallery, whereas Smith has focused on the outer limits of the human imagination and contemplative cosmology. The combination of the skill, hard work and dedication of the entire committee has resulted in a particularly thoughtful exhibition this year. In addition to thanking the Summer Exhibition Committee, it is a pleasure to yet again acknowledge an immense debt of gratitude to our long-term sponsors Insight Investment.
President’s Foreword Christopher Le Brun
8
To follow the great success of last year’s Summer Exhibition, which marked the 250th anniversary of the Royal Academy, was never going to be an easy task. We were delighted by the enthusiasm with which visitors greeted that show, making it the most popular for a hundred years and underpinning the Summer Exhibition’s continued role in an increasingly complex art world with so many different opportunities to see and enjoy contemporary art. The reception of last year’s exhibition gave a sense of confidence to the committee, with the painter Jock McFadyen as chief co-ordinator this year. This is detectable in the overall feel of the exhibition, as well as in the individual focus of each of the galleries. With an overarching emphasis on art that reflects the world we live in, members of the committee have taken this theme in different directions. The architect Spencer de Grey has examined the sustainability of modern architecture, illustrating how practices have long focused on reducing the carbon footprint of their buildings through innovative methods of sourcing and construction. Barbara Rae reflects the same urgent concerns in her gallery, which contains both abstract and figurative works that celebrate the beauty of the outer regions of the world and remind us of the fragility of the planet. A grouping of wild and domestic animals in the Wohl Central Hall further reminds us of humankind’s responsibility to nature. Hughie O’Donoghue balances these themes in his gallery, which is mostly occupied with considerations of human existence. The depiction of the human form can also be seen in Timothy Hyman’s room where drawings are strongly featured with each work selected for the quality of its draughtsmanship. Anne Desmet and Barbara Rae reveal very different aspects of contemporary printmaking, and between their two galleries they have assembled a rich selection of techniques and themes. In the Lecture Room Stephen Chambers has delivered a masterclass in hanging works together that provide an array of different modes of expression. This is balanced by the denser pattern-dominated hang by Jock McFadyen in Gallery III, the largest and grandest of the Academy’s spaces. Richard Wilson has overseen sculpture across the entire exhibition, carefully placing works which chime with the context and theme of each gallery. On the Summer Exhibition Committee for the first time this year are Bob and Roberta Smith and Jane and Louise Wilson. The constant renewal of the Summer Exhibition is dependent on these fresh perspectives. The Wilsons have brought their knowledge and sensitivity for light-based work to their gallery, whereas Smith has focused on the outer limits of the human imagination and contemplative cosmology. The combination of the skill, hard work and dedication of the entire committee has resulted in a particularly thoughtful exhibition this year. In addition to thanking the Summer Exhibition Committee, it is a pleasure to yet again acknowledge an immense debt of gratitude to our long-term sponsors Insight Investment.
Introduction Jock McFadyen RA
10
Twenty-two years ago at ‘Sensation’ Marcus Harvey’s picture of Myra Hindley was attacked by members of the public in the RA’s galleries. Eggs and ink were pelted, the media went viral and anyone who had not yet heard of the YBAs simply hadn’t been paying attention. Today Marcus Harvey’s powerful new work The Victory is hung prominently in the 2019 Summer Exhibition and many of the artists exhibited in ‘Sensation’ are now Royal Academicians. But the RA has always included artists who make challenging work, as previous generations from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s to the recently elected Turner Prize-winner Lubaina Himid prove, and a number of Academicians have huge international reputations. The quality of artistic life at the RA hasn’t changed, but the business of art outside the walls of the Academy has. In Mike Leigh’s 2014 film Mr Turner we saw that in the eighteenth century the Royal Academy’s Annual Exhibition was a display of new work by Royal Academicians shown alongside new work by artists who were not Royal Academicians. The exhibition has been running continuously for the past 250 years and is always extremely popular. Nearly 300,000 people visited the show last year. In the art business there is the suspicion that if something is popular then it might not be much good. But hang on a minute: Picasso is popular and he’s pretty good, and so is Andy Warhol, and Tate Modern always seems to be rammed and it’s not bad either… Until recently one might have been forgiven for thinking of the Summer Exhibition as an easy target for snooty critics and a joy to thousands of visitors who wouldn’t dream of visiting the Venice Biennale or popping over to Art Basel Miami. And some people still think it’s just a show of pictures of cats and dogs, and maybe I did too. Before I was elected to the Academy seven years ago I didn’t send in my pictures and rarely visited the show, but I was behind the curve. Now I am passionate about the exhibition and consider it one of the most important survey shows of contemporary art in the world. Critics are rarely snooty about the international art fairs, yet they are curated by dealers. Guest curators might participate but even they can only curate artists presented by the dealers. Survey exhibitions in museums of contemporary art are invariably curated by academics who in turn are often influenced by dealers, so the wheel turns and a self-fulfilling narrative emerges. The unfolding story of art. In the last few years the wheel has come full circle. Many commentators have drifted towards the journalistic end of criticism while the art fairs get even closer to the banality of international money. The auction houses too have become rather boring with their ever-breaking sales records, to the point where the ‘best’ works appear to be by artists who rarely change or experiment or, better still, are dead. After all, clients 11
Introduction Jock McFadyen RA
10
Twenty-two years ago at ‘Sensation’ Marcus Harvey’s picture of Myra Hindley was attacked by members of the public in the RA’s galleries. Eggs and ink were pelted, the media went viral and anyone who had not yet heard of the YBAs simply hadn’t been paying attention. Today Marcus Harvey’s powerful new work The Victory is hung prominently in the 2019 Summer Exhibition and many of the artists exhibited in ‘Sensation’ are now Royal Academicians. But the RA has always included artists who make challenging work, as previous generations from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s to the recently elected Turner Prize-winner Lubaina Himid prove, and a number of Academicians have huge international reputations. The quality of artistic life at the RA hasn’t changed, but the business of art outside the walls of the Academy has. In Mike Leigh’s 2014 film Mr Turner we saw that in the eighteenth century the Royal Academy’s Annual Exhibition was a display of new work by Royal Academicians shown alongside new work by artists who were not Royal Academicians. The exhibition has been running continuously for the past 250 years and is always extremely popular. Nearly 300,000 people visited the show last year. In the art business there is the suspicion that if something is popular then it might not be much good. But hang on a minute: Picasso is popular and he’s pretty good, and so is Andy Warhol, and Tate Modern always seems to be rammed and it’s not bad either… Until recently one might have been forgiven for thinking of the Summer Exhibition as an easy target for snooty critics and a joy to thousands of visitors who wouldn’t dream of visiting the Venice Biennale or popping over to Art Basel Miami. And some people still think it’s just a show of pictures of cats and dogs, and maybe I did too. Before I was elected to the Academy seven years ago I didn’t send in my pictures and rarely visited the show, but I was behind the curve. Now I am passionate about the exhibition and consider it one of the most important survey shows of contemporary art in the world. Critics are rarely snooty about the international art fairs, yet they are curated by dealers. Guest curators might participate but even they can only curate artists presented by the dealers. Survey exhibitions in museums of contemporary art are invariably curated by academics who in turn are often influenced by dealers, so the wheel turns and a self-fulfilling narrative emerges. The unfolding story of art. In the last few years the wheel has come full circle. Many commentators have drifted towards the journalistic end of criticism while the art fairs get even closer to the banality of international money. The auction houses too have become rather boring with their ever-breaking sales records, to the point where the ‘best’ works appear to be by artists who rarely change or experiment or, better still, are dead. After all, clients 11
28
29
28
29
30
31
30
31
32
33
32
33
Charles Avery
Kenny Hunter
Prof Cathie Pilkington RA
Untitled (Duculi) Bronze H 145 cm
Black Swan Bronze H 80 cm
Messenger Mixed media H 152 cm
34
35
Charles Avery
Kenny Hunter
Prof Cathie Pilkington RA
Untitled (Duculi) Bronze H 145 cm
Black Swan Bronze H 80 cm
Messenger Mixed media H 152 cm
34
35
Prof El Anatsui Hon RA
Prof Bryan Kneale MBE RA
William Tucker RA
Untitled Ink and gold leaf 132 × 132 cm
Untitled – Black on Grey Wash Acrylic 100 × 70 cm
Marist VIII Monotype with charcoal 50 × 32 cm
72
73
Prof El Anatsui Hon RA
Prof Bryan Kneale MBE RA
William Tucker RA
Untitled Ink and gold leaf 132 × 132 cm
Untitled – Black on Grey Wash Acrylic 100 × 70 cm
Marist VIII Monotype with charcoal 50 × 32 cm
72
73
Martin Pover
Dorothy Cross
David Remfry MBE RA
Carceri. Tiergarten Berlin Photographic print 100 × 100 cm
Medusae III Luminescent print 38 × 60 cm
Chandelirium Oil 76 × 76 cm
74
75
Martin Pover
Dorothy Cross
David Remfry MBE RA
Carceri. Tiergarten Berlin Photographic print 100 × 100 cm
Medusae III Luminescent print 38 × 60 cm
Chandelirium Oil 76 × 76 cm
74
75
Sir Michael Craig-Martin CBE RA
Alfred Griffiths
Richard Deacon CBE RA
Savarin Can Digital inkjet print 42 × 30 cm
Mars Bar Pen, ink, watercolour and pencil 20 × 30 cm
For Michael Wood H 84 cm
76
77
Sir Michael Craig-Martin CBE RA
Alfred Griffiths
Richard Deacon CBE RA
Savarin Can Digital inkjet print 42 × 30 cm
Mars Bar Pen, ink, watercolour and pencil 20 × 30 cm
For Michael Wood H 84 cm
76
77
Zatorski + Zatorski
Richard Woods
Prof Phyllida Barlow CBE RA
The Dream of the Pearl Diver’s Widow Giclée print 94 × 115 cm
Delightfully Landscaped Gardens Screenprint and woodblock 64 × 86 cm
untitled: catch; 2019 Hessian scrim, paint, plaster, PVA and steel 46 × 40 × 35 cm
78
79
Zatorski + Zatorski
Richard Woods
Prof Phyllida Barlow CBE RA
The Dream of the Pearl Diver’s Widow Giclée print 94 × 115 cm
Delightfully Landscaped Gardens Screenprint and woodblock 64 × 86 cm
untitled: catch; 2019 Hessian scrim, paint, plaster, PVA and steel 46 × 40 × 35 cm
78
79
Wolfgang Tillmans RA
William Marsden
Liam and TM Jumping Up the Cliff Inket print 206 Ă— 138 cm
Anthon Raimund Photographic print 178 Ă— 127 cm
86
87
Wolfgang Tillmans RA
William Marsden
Liam and TM Jumping Up the Cliff Inket print 206 Ă— 138 cm
Anthon Raimund Photographic print 178 Ă— 127 cm
86
87
192