This year marked the 250th Anniversary of
the Royal Academy’s annual Summer Exhibition. The Summer Exhibition had been
growing increasingly dusty over the past few years and it was clear that things
needed shaking up in the hallowed halls of the Royal gallery. Its run now
having come to an end the Academy has succeeded in curating an exhibition that
both engages and entertains.
This year Grayson Perry was at the helm of the Summer Exhibition,
alongside fellow Academicians Cornelia Parker, Rose Wylie and Joe Tilson. I think
he was the perfect fit to give this annual event a good spring clean. Grayson
Perry is known for his ability to tune into pop culture and tap into the kitsch
and so finally the Summer Exhibition can embrace its true nature: loud, gaudy
and brash. This newly acquired self-awareness has allowed the exhibition to
become a reflection of sorts of Britain with its abundance of politics and
humour. This cognisance is reflected in the 200 flags, designed by the four
curators, spilling out of the gallery and winding their way down past London’s
tourist attractions and through London’s busiest streets. This free art that
lines the West End is a sign of the times as media of all kinds is increasingly
democratised. The exhibition’s alertness to our current time has also seen it
contemplate its own past in the form of its sister exhibition- The Greatest
Spectacle, which features artwork that has been part of the Summer Exhibition’s
illustrious history. Headed in this new direction the Summer Exhibition has
embraced its status as spectacle and thus gained a whole new lease of life. The
sum of the experience of attending this strange exhibition is so much more than
just the total of artworks it is composed of.
On that note let’s look to the works themselves, of
which there are over 1300. Sculpture plays a big role in the exhibition with a piece
by Anish Kapoor looming large in the courtyard. Inside is a vast and intricate
fabric creation by Joana Vasconcelos. The bright blue walls that surround this
piece give it the appearance of some slightly abstract sea monster. It is a
perfect creature to welcome visitors entering this beast of an exhibition.
Other highlights in the galleries include two new giant pieces by David Hockney
exploring the artist studio with dizzying perspectives. What arguably works
less well is the “room of humour” separated from the rest of the exhibition in
the Ronald and Rita McAuley Gallery. This room features a whole lot of
portraits of Grayson Perry and is dominated by pieces by Martin Parr and David
Shrigley.
Most remarkable is Gallery III of the exhibition. Painted
in acid yellow the consciousness of Britain has been spewed up in every corner
in this, the most explicitly political, room of the whole show. In his 2013
Reith lecture Perry declared that “Democracy has bad taste” and this is evident
in the acid yellow room. Some of the work is skilful some of it is slapdash,
some of it is laden with historical influence and some is crude and garish.
Some of the work takes a wry look at modern political figures and some of it
burns with fury at social injustices such as the criminal investigation
surrounding Grenfell and the overlooked homelessness epidemic. There is also some
work with dubious political intent. This includes an adoringly crafted portrait
of Nigel Farage and a painting called Scream that seems to have Islamophobic
undertones but is not completely clear either way. Perry has not been the
arbiter of what is good or bad but has curated a room that represents
discussions going on in Britain right now, and some of those are in bad taste.
Perry’s iconoclastic work is preoccupied with the prevailing narratives of the
modern world and using pop culture images to discuss them, he’s managed to
create an area for discussion in the yellow room.
A personal favourite for me was a triptych homage to The Garden of Earthly delights by Emma
Haworth. The middle panel is named In The
Park of Delights and Difficulties, on the right Hell on Earth, and on the left Heaven
on Earth. The Garden of Earthly Delights can be read from left to right
depicting themes of history and faith. When In
The Parks Of is read in the same way, we see an idyllic Hyde Park descend
into a hellish apocalyptic vision.
The Summer Exhibition has found its purpose and I’m
excited to see the madness continue for years to come.
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