Today (09/06/14) sees the grand opening of the Royal Academy Of Arts’ Summer Exhibition 2014, bringing with it another massive cornucopia of new art just in time for the sunshine months. Filling their hallowed walls with new and recently created art by everyone from amateur, emerging and unknown artists to the biggest names in contemporary art and architecture, it’s a great opportunity to tap into the massive variety of the now of modern art.
Opening its doors for the first time to the public at 10am on the 9th June 2014, the exhibition is scheduled to run through until the 17th August 2014. With just under three months to catch the huge swathe of art on display, there’s only 10 weekends in which to fit in a visit, unless you can make it during the week. The only off day for the Academy is the 23rd of June when the exhibition will be closed to the public.
Ticket prices are £13.50, including a donation to the Royal Academy Of Arts, and there are concessions available for seniors (aged 60 and over) at £11.50, students and 16-18 years old at £10, jobseekers and income support at £10 and people with disability (including free entry for a supporter or carer) at £10.00 also. The opening hours for the exhibition are Saturday to Thursday 10am-6pm, with late night opening on Friday of 10am-10pm.
Rather impressively, the Summer Exhibition 2014 constitutes the 246th in the history of the Royal Academy Of Arts event, which began in 1769 with just 136 pieces of work. Now, more than a thousand pieces of new and recently created art have been selected to be brought together into the confines of the Main Galleries to showcase the huge potential of art and the impact it has with the 2014 exhibition.
One of the best things for us is that the exhibition is actually open to all comers in terms of the artists that feature on their wall during the display. Every one of the 1000+ pieces of works on show are chosen by leading artists too, so not only can they come from anyone and anywhere, they’ve also got a pretty sizable seal of approval from the wider art community in advance.
Curated by Cornelia Parker, it’s an impressive collection of art and having seen the preview it’s definitely another impressive showing from the Academy. Each year is completely different, and 2014 sees the staff that have assembled the work trying harder than ever to bring something new to display beyond the art itself, taking in the position, art neighborhood and hanging style to deliver something new.
The central hall and room 9 are dedicated to the expanded gamut of RA artist members, focusing on the wider reach of the academy. There’s also a room dedicated to monochrome to reiterate the continuing importance of black and white creation to art in general.
We’re also big fans of the dedicated architecture room (which you can get a sneak peak of above thanks to the pic by Benedict Johnson), as it’s always a cool feature of the annual event. However, it’s a part of a whole lot of horse and indeed ham that has gone into making the 2014 Summer Exhibition.
