Royal Academy Summer Show 2018

Academy celebrates its 250th Summer Exhibition, and is now a part of the national tradition of the country. It is the world’s largest open submission contemporary show by exhibiting a range of art being made in this moment, in tune with the theme of ‘Art Made Now’. For the first time, the Summer Exhibition spreads across the new RA and spills out on to the streets of London’s West End.

Grayson Perry RA, co-ordinator of the Summer Exhibition, encouraged artists to enter work when he said: “Fellow artists! 2018 marks the 250th anniversary of the Royal Academy, so the Summer Exhibition will celebrate a quarter of a millennia of artistic innovation. As co-ordinator, I have decided that the theme of the show will be ‘Art Made Now’. I want to champion the democracy of the exhibition and show off the diversity of art being made in this moment, so I encourage you to submit works that you have made in 2017/18. I am also planning a special ‘Room of Fun’ in a newly built part of the Academy, so the committee may well look favourably on artworks that we find amusing.”

The response to Grayson’s call has been some 20,000 submissions. After the selection committee had chosen their preferences there are a final 1,351 works on display. Together with the status in being shown, many of the work are for sale.