Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibitions London, 2018/2019
The Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition is an open art exhibition held annually by the Royal Academy in Burlington House, London, during the summer (June to August). The art exhibition includes paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures and various architectural designs. It is the largest and most popular open exhibition in the United Kingdom and also said to be the longest continuously staged exhibition of contemporary art in the world.
When the Royal Academy of Arts was founded in 1768, one of its key objectives was to establish an annual exhibition, open to all artists of merit, which could be visited by the public. The first Summer Exhibition took place in 1769, and it has been held every year since without exception…
Today, around 1,000 works are selected each year from as many as 10,000 entries from more than 5,000 artists. Any artist (living, known or unknown) may submit up to two works at a fee of £35 per piece for selection by The Summer Exhibition Selection and Hanging Committee. The committee is formed from the Council of Academicians (the governing body of the RA), and is traditionally chaired by the President of the Royal Academy. In addition to those works selected by the committee, all 80 Academicians are entitled to have six of their own pieces in the exhibition.
2018 Summer Exhibition
For the 250th Anniversary of the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy in London, Banksy submitted an artwork under the pseudonym “Bryan S Gaakman”, anagram of “Banksy anagram”, but it was refused.
However when curator Grayson Perry contacted him to submit something, Banksy did so again, and it was then displayed in the gallery.
“I entered an early version of this into the RA summer exhibition under the pseudonym Bryan S Gaakman – an anagram of ‘banksy anagram’. It was refused.
Then a month later I got a mail from the co-ordinator Grayson Perry asking me to submit something so I sent it again. It’s now hanging in gallery 3.”
2019 Summer Exhibition
Banksy created a new artwork for The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition that opened to the public on 10 June 2019 in London. Banksy created another politically charged artwork – this time on Europe and Brexit.
The artwork features a closed shutter with a ‘Customs’ sign for arrival from the EU.
Looking at the bottom of the shutter, a cheeky stenciled rat stole the T of the ‘KEEP OUT’ sign to use it as a hammer over the padlock that keeps the borders closed.
Banksy’s take on Brexit is well known, as we have seen in three pieces over the past several years.
The first being a large mural in Dover, unveiled on 7 May 2017.
The second piece was the contribution to last year’s summer exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts with the “Vote to Love.” artwork.
