Royal Academy of Arts: Summer Exhibition

The Royal Academy of Arts held the 242nd Summer Exhibition this year and as per usual it showcased some of the best work by professional and emerging artists. It exhibited over 1,200 pieces of art work all based around the theme of ‘Raw’.

‘The Hunt for the Unicorn – Manhattan Style’ by RA Chris Orr
Similar to the fun and sometimes mind boggling creation ‘Where’s Wally?’, ‘The Hunt for the Unicorn’ is an extremely interesting piece of art that leaves the viewer frantically searching for this mysterious unicorn that may or may not exist. This work could be classed as a large collage as it consists of hundreds of intricately drawn images of very different styles, almost as if drawn and created by several different artists of all ages. The artist tells a complex story and the more you look at Chris Orr’s work the further you feel mesmerised by its complexity and obscurity.



'The Immigration of Mel and Judith' by Thomas Hillier

The architecture room excelled itself this year. The majority of work not only depicting new structural creations but the architects formed beautiful pieces of art work. Thomas Hillier was my personal favourite and his work 'The Immigration of Mel and Judith' saw architecture created in a breath taking way, within a mundane object, a kitsch, fringed lampshade. Intricately created from hundreds of cut out pieces of card this extrodinary piece of art work was a feast for the eyes. This is not the kind of work that could be built in real life but it shows the pure imagination of 21st century architects. Architectural models are becoming great works of art, items of beauty rather just accurately constructed small scale models of real buildings.