Out of curiosity I visited the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. I haven’t been in years. It was the last day but was surprisingly calm. At first it all felt quite cosy (I think) as if I was within some kind of womb, where the walls were made of art. However after a couple of rooms (127 exhibits) I was beginning to grow weary. There was a total of 1117 exhibits. I did make it to the end – but I definitely missed a few.
The positioning of the red stickers indicating a work had been sold baffled me. Some were stuck on the glass rather than the wall. I counted 40 odd on one work, which was an edition of 100. If there wasn’t a mount these stickers obstructed the view of the actual work. However lots of stickers means lots of buyers!
One of my favourites was Lost Memory by Tai-Shan Schierenberg. An oil painting of a broken house-like construction, within a house-like space, on a floor of grass. Sad. Atmospheric. Beautiful marks.
