Thursday, June 12, 2014

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition (4.0/5.0)

Diary 2014-08
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition (4.0/5.0)
Royal Academy, London
12 June 2014

Patrons in their summer best, a buzz of conversation.  Enter via the Central Hall with it's political works.  The Smaller Weston and Rooms I & II, dense salons of prints and other works juxtapositing mode and colour best taken whole rather than individually.  VII overwhelms with a formal grid, IX just a red and black mess.  Room III's big canvasses, swathes of colour, a visual feast.  Exciting architecture in VI, liveable environments drawn and modelled.  Exit via X's calm, contemplative, film and photography.  Sometimes its a squeeze for patrons and art, at others it's inspiring to absorb so much at once.