Nigel Ip

This year’s Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition is better than the last, which means it’s getting progressively better overall. Ryan Gander is the Exhibition Coordinator this time, working around the theme of ‘Interconnectedness’. A subtle white line runs through every room, suggesting commonalities between all humans and their creations.

I really liked the sculpture shelves running along some of the walls; they gave individual prominence to small-scale works and provided a perfect balance with both smaller and larger framed works on the walls.

Equally amusing were the number of sculptures on the floor, often humorous, sometimes blurring the boundary between ordinary objects and fine art. I even did a double-take on an elegantly designed fire extinguisher! Playfulness seems to be an underlying approach throughout the show, in subject matter and in presentation, with a side theme of cats.

Something that we don’t often associate with the Summer Exhibition is interactivity. Antony Gormley’s Hide cardboard sculpture in the Lecture Room encourages visitors to enter its cavernous interior. This is also where the architecture room appears to have been reinstated, returning to the format of earlier editions, except last year when it was woven everywhere. Another major departure is considerably less works dangling from the ceiling, resulting in a very clean appearance for both Gallery III and the Wohl Central Hall.

Summer Exhibition 2026 (16 June – 23 August 2026) is at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/