The usual suspects

The Summer Exhibition is like a leviathan, a monster from the deep, that every now and again shows itself to general outcry and occasional consternation. Unfortunately, however, it’s not actually the stuff of myth and legend, but all too often of rather dismal reality. This, the 238th Summer Show, is co-ordinated by the architect Peter Cook and the sculptors David Mach and Alison Wilding, and revels in a theme which, though not ‘compulsory’, was optimistically expected to inspire those non-RA artists blessed with sufficient temerity to submit work. The chosen subject was ‘From Life’, which is unspecific enough not to make the slightest difference to anyone. The biggest innovation this year is allotting an individual gallery to each of the recently deceased RAs — Patrick Caulfield and Eduardo Paolozzi. In addition there are some 1,300 works of varying degrees of interest and competence. This is a show which requires real stamina just to view it.

It’s best to ignore the overweening gimmickry of the courtyard and concentrate on the dense hang of the main galleries within the Academy. The visitor is required to pay a £7 admission charge, though there are various concessions, and most exhibits are for sale. The Summer Exhibition is a very healthy money-spinner for the RA, even if it is something of an embarrassment to the curatorial staff of this strange institution. Every year one is filled with hope that somehow the usual mix will be more uplifting than before, and every year there are roughly the same amounts of good things and dreadful things, often by exactly the same artists. Only radical reorganisation will transform the Summer Exhibition, and there are still too many people who want no change at all — including many of the Academicians for whom the show is a lucrative shop window, and many of the visitors who get their yearly dose of ‘modern’ art in an acceptable form and setting.