This year was perhaps the best Summer Show the Royal Academy has ever put on (well at least in my memory), of course I still have a soft spot for the 2015 show, how can anyone forget that bright pink room? And it’s true enough that I’ve never attended a summer show at the RA that I didn’t like, however, this years truly blew me away.
The exhibition was curated by Yinka Shonibare and the theme was “Reclaiming Magic”, perfect for the year 2021, I don’t know about anyone else but I am well and truly over embracing the new normal, in fact I feel more than ready to get back to the old normal. The aim of the exhibition was to not only reclaim the magic and joy of summer shows of past but also according to Yinka to “include artists who are not normally shown within the Royal Academy, […] self-taught artists, artists with disabilities, artists from the African diaspora, and also artists trained in the Western tradition but who work in a more visceral manner.” Walking around the show it was very clear that intersectionality was not just being used as a buzz word but was actually implemented into the curation and I could see a greater diversity in not only the Artists represented but also the work on display.
Here are three of my favourite pieces from this years Summer Show
Eid Picnic
Sophie Bharmal
Walking into the exhibition I was happily surprised to be immediately greeted by an Artist that I recognised and not because they’re a famous artist but because I’ve seen them selling their paintings and prints at the South London’s Makers Market.
Sweep
Sally Mae Pettway Mixon
I really loved this piece because it made me think of the quilts made by the Gees Bend Quilting Collective that I saw in Margate last summer at the Turner Gallery’s exhibition on Art and Resistance in the American South. On coming home I did some research on Sally Mae Pettway and discovered that she’s actually a member of the Gees Bend Quilting Collective, which made seeing this quilt in the Royal Academy even more special to me.
SUNSET, SUNFLOWERS AND SHELLS
Eliza Downes
I also really loved this still life painting by London based artist Eliza Downes, which is absolutely giving contemporary Vincent Van Gogh vibes.
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