The 2012 Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy Of Arts was the 243rd event in the long history of the impressive and wide ranging open entry art exhibition, which is the biggest such display in the world. The exhibition is a collection of thousands of artist’s submissions and represents one of the easiest ways for aspiring artists to see their work exhibited at a major museum.
The Summer Exhibition 2012 opened its doors to the public on the 4th June and ran through until the 12th of August 2012 with its customary two month stint. It took up the entire breadth of the Royal Academy of Arts in London’s City of Westminster and ranged from small amateur pieces to large installations and well known artist submissions to create a broad ranging display.
While it gets a bit of a rough time from some of the snootier portions of the art critic world, it’s a great exhibition that covers a wide range of talents and styles. The work of professional artists sit next to submissions from the amateur side of the creative world, making it feel very approachable as you spot a famous name every now and again next to a complete unknown, giving you the opportunity to compare the difference between them.
There are also a lot of different art forms on display, including prints, sketches, paintings, sculpture and pottery, as well as large, free-standing and ceiling hung installations. The architecture section is one of the most impressive, giving you a chance to see some of the initial concept models for buildings from around the world.
Tickets for the 2012 Summer Exhibition went on-sale now from the Royal Academy’s ticket section early on in the year and cost £10 for adults (£11.50 with donation), £8 for senior citizens, £7 for students, £8 for disabled, £4 for jobseekers, income support and 12-18 year olds and £3 for 8-11 year olds (free for under 7s). There were also a number of exhibition tours and talks to take advantage of, which were free with the price of the exhibition ticket.
