The Summer Exhibition: BBC Arts at the Royal Academy

Welcome to the Royal Academy of Arts in London?s Piccadilly.

And to this year's Summer Exhibition!

This is the world's largest open submission

exhibition - which means absolutely anyone can enter and be in with a

chance to get their works displayed on the walls of the Royal Academy.

Over the next ten weeks over 150,000 visitors will be passing

through these doors - but tonight you?ll be seeing it first.

We follow three aspiring artists hoping to make it into the show.

We meet some of the newest Royal Academicians

And experience the Summer Exhibition like never before with

Swedish performance artists Lundhal and Seitl.

We go behind the scenes with artist Cornelia Parker and the other RAs

Sherlock star Una Stubbs will be tracking down the artist

And Kaiser Chiefs will be playing us out with their new single

In a moment we?ll be heading indoors to where it?s all happening,

The guest list is 1000 strong but one of the first through the doors

is our reporter Morgan Quaintance. I have never been to the summer show.

I am not going to tell you I once submitted a piece of work and I am

not going to tell you that I did not get in. It is on my bucket list. I

knew I would not -- I knew I would get in somehow. Screw you,

committee, I'm here! Has anything caught your eye in this room? It is

pretty cool. Once a year everyone gets a chance to get their work on

the walls. It looks like art vomit. At 12,000 entries, will 600 will get

a chance to be displayed on the walls.

It all began on a cold morning when 2500 people descended on the

Academy. In the past, anyone could turn up and submit their work, but

this year, these artists have already passed the first hurdle.

They have made it through the second round of judging. You have driven

from Belgium in this car? Guess! I am a smallholder. I had to feed the

animals before I came. It is called the Cal. -- the cow.

Ickran Abdille is 20 years old and it?s the first time she?s submitted

Used cling and inked it up and put it through the press. I am from

Northampton studying a BA in fine art and I am just beginning my

practice. This is my little sister. I have eight siblings. Four Brothers

and four sisters. It is quite a struggle here creating art in my

room because there is not enough space. Becoming an artist is

important to me because it gives me that freedom that I think I have

always wanted. And maybe I have not had... Cheers. Lawrence Udall has

come to hand in this painting of a water mill. It is not fashionable

nowadays but it may come back sometime. Lawrence has been

submitting to the Summer Exhibition for 15 years. He has not yet been

successful. It has just been an ancient ambition since reading about

artists who have submitted at the Royal Academy and you know, one of

these naive things to do, at a very young age, but it has continued on.

Lawrence paints for five hours a day several days a week. I am sure it is

a therapy, to be honest. I did not know that I suffered from Asperger's

throughout my life until very recently and I had great difficulty

in properly communicating to people, unable to say I Love you,

for instance. I could always come back to painting and that sort of

filled the gap, really, that was missing. The social interaction

which I could not do very well. If someone thought that my painting was

worthy of putting in the Academy then it would be some sort of

acknowledgement, if you like, that I could paint.

This one is called Twister because it is like a hurricane. Nicky

Carvell has probally had the shortest journey here. She works in

the shop upstairs. I work in the shop three days a week and I can

make enough money through that and my work to survive. I did these

duvet covers. The one at the top 20 bit wrong. I would like to have it

in the gallery. I think the colour in my work echoes me as a person. I

can be quite shy and it could be a mask for me to hide behind. It is

really hard to climb up the art world ladder I think. Getting my

work in exhibition is really important to me. Like all the

hopeful artists, their work will be judged anonymously by the selection

committee. In a few weeks time, our artists will find out whether or not

they will be part of this year's show.

From what I have seen from the before, Tracey Emin was on the wall,

so if I can be on the same wall is Tracey Emin, that would be amazing!

This is gallery three, one of the largest regions in exhibition and

arguably one of the most prestigious as well. This year, it is devoted to

painting. People with big reputations will start Gillian

Ayres, the late John Bellamy. The interesting thing about the

academicians, they are the people who actually run this place. There

are only 80 academicians at any one time. New places only become

available when someone dies or turns 75. That means usually every year 12

places come up for grabs. There has been quite a bit of excitement in

the last year because 11 new academicians have been made. The

likes of contemporary artists like Conrad Shawcross and Rebecca Warren.

They are important artists and now they get to take their places

alongside some of the greatest names in the history of art.

It's down in the basement, where you get a sense of who these

great RAs really are and I?m getting a private tour by one such figure,

Hidden in these racks is work by every single Academician

You open these things, you open these hings up and you just

The 11 new RAs will be in remarkably good company

What, what's this rather rude painting?

We have here probably one of our greatest treasures

which is Turner's actual water colour box, I have an idea that

you?d think that an invitation to join these hallowed ranks would be

Thank you so very much for offering to make me an academician,

So, this is Richard Hamilton, for instance?

I have no wish to become a member of the Royal Academy.

When I remember the abysmal state things were in when Munnings was

president and I was a student there, my flesh creeps.

There was great anger at one time towards the Academy back

I find myself a president of a body of men who find there is something

in this so-called modern art. In 1949 the then president

Alfred Munnings made a famous speech denouncing modern

art, and the Academy was cast Since then it?s gone to great

lengths to encourage the leading figures of contemporary

art to join its ranks. And this year has seen

an exceptionally strong intake. We've elected some really bright

cookies and some very good artists. I think we could get some fantastic

fireworks in the next 20 years. Patrick Brill AKA Bob and

Roberta Smith is a sign writer and campaigner - known

for his passion for politics. Earlier this year, he joined the RA

as one of the 11 new academicians. Come and see my studio. Is it a

shed? I would rather think of it as a contemporary Art Centre, the

Leytonstone Centre for contemporary Art. What is this personal shrine

you have up here? A Spitfire and something saying our aid, is that

for the Royal Academy? Yes, I was release apprised that you get a

medal. It is like the Olympics. Bob's first job is creating a work

for the Summer Exhibition. He appears to have made quite a few.

There are 23 that you have done. Can I suggest it is a bit optimistic

that you will get all of them in the garden? This is a transcript of an

interview by journalist Eddie Mayor. In it, surging David Nott describes

his time working as a surgeon in the Syrian war.

David Nott is explaining about what the inside of his...

what the operating theatre was really like and they were just

art? Really? That is a strange thing to say. I could not understand why

English people were not being asked to make work about Morris dancing.

But I thought I would try and find what authentic African art is.

Shonibare began to research the colourful fabric integral to

To his surprise he discovered it wasn?t authentically African at all,

but Indonesian designs manufactured by the Dutch.

The fabric has become the basis for his playful sculptures,

which satirise ideas about power, empire and nationalism.

I think that there is xenophobia is unfortunately back, so it?s an issue

Yinka?s piece for the RA show tackles another hot topic of

our times, through a rather tasty looking sculpture called Cake Man.

Yes, no, they look good enough to eat.

Yinka got the idea from the economic crisis of 2010, this

figure?s a banker, his head is made up of the global stock exchange.

I?m trying to evoke this idea of you know,

As you can see the cakes are incredibly precarious.

You know that in the next moment, the whole thing is gonna come

I have no idea yet on how it?s going to be received.

I certainly know that most people like cake so that?s a good starting

That?s the secret for a popular work of art is it?

I have just grabbed Bob and Roberta Smith.

And we are in front of your work here.

How does it feel to see it in the space?

But it is mind blowing to have it here at the Royal Academy.

Apart from you looking cool, you are in cool company.

It?s not just you but the new RAS - Chantal Joffe,

Have you got some plans in store for RA?

I am really excited as it?s the most incredibly democratic thing.

No other institution invites the public to show their work.

It has at its core, this idea of democracy.

Get the spirit of Summer Exhibition, which is bonkers and crazy and

incredibly democratic and make that resonate more in the art world.

In the interest of democracy are you going to extend

that to an open invitation to the after show party later?

I?m going to take you to the members? room.

I'm joined by a few guests at the party.

Tim Marlow, the new director of artistic programmes here at the

RA, artist Miriam Elia and Director of the Fine Art Society Kate Bryan.

These new Academicians are big names, loud voices,

there's a bit of protest, political work, quite radical.

Is doing something different? It is a liberal pat on the back. There is

a culture of being antiestablishment without having any antiestablishment

rebellion. Can this not do anything interesting? It is aesthetically

beautiful and there are fantastic things but it is not cutting edge.

You have been here a few weeks, you think it is too understated? Is this

a response? The Academy has always embodied the establishment but it

has always been antiestablishment because it always argues. Nothing is

off the table. Any discussion can take place. People argue and debate.

That is what is going on. But that is within confines. It is an

Academy. My art education was based on the idea you were rebelling

against something. The very first day at art school they said, we are

not going to teach you the rules, we want you to break them, and we said,

you have not taught us any rules. Do you think the selection of the 11

shows some forward momentum? It is significant because it is strength

in numbers. It represents 10% of the total. It is surprisingly few. There

are some younger names. Someone like Thomas Heather Wick is fantastic

because he will shape the cultural landscape of this country, so he

must be here. That is being more outward facing. Choosing people who

will deliver something. Everyone thinks it is an amazing strategy. It

is labyrinthine, there is lots of horse trading, nobody is having an

overview. There is an in-built liberal strategy but also a

curmudgeonly strategy, electing people by the antithesis of that

kind of consensus. What about the make up? It is predominantly white

males. 75%. There are some women in there.

60% of art school graduates are female.

I take all the guilt for the sins of my gender.

But I think intuitively the Academicians, a lot

One thing we?re all agreed on is that there need to be more women.

Well, there's at least one female RA who's set on causing a bit of

mischief this year, and that's the contemporary artist Cornelia Parker.

This year she's been tasked with curating a room of her own,

Cornelia's Parker's artworks often start off as found objects.

It's what she then does to these objects that makes her work

Or even run them through a guillotine.

The thing I love about Cornelia Parker is she takes these

objects and subjects them to these processes that are often very

violent and very witty, and along the way she transforms them into

This was made of over 1,000 pieces of squished silverware.

And this was shot by a pearl necklace.

So I can't help wondering what exactly she has in mind

My home studio, it was supposed to be my office

Yes so this, this is the lecture room which

This is the first room you see on your right.

But, Cornelia, that's quite a big one.

Cornelia's invited 26 artists she likes and admires to show

Given that these artists wouldn't normally submit to the summer

Each artist has to work to Cornelia's unifying

This bear here, we've got Mark Wallinger,

Hmm, there's a Laurie Provost who's just won the Turner Prize and she's

These are intriguing sounding pieces - but I've a hunch there's more to

this black and white room than a mere showcase.

Do you feel the room as a whole will be a Cornelia Parker sort of piece,

that your character as an artist is, is writ large there?

Well, I think it's bound to, just because I'm curating it

but obviously, everybody's got their own voice

One of the artists is David Batchelor who's celebrated

for his colourful installations, but has risen to Cornelia's black

Why haven't you submitted to the summer show?

Is Cornelia just a very hard lady to say no to, or why did you?

Oh yeah, you can never say no to Cornelia.

David Batchelor's experimenting with a process that turns paint

There's quite a lot of it I can't control.

I'd like to control, but the first few minutes I'm

He's hoping that as the paint dries, the surface will shrink

It's sort of almost like an - someone described them

as like deflated balloons, which is almost literally what they are.

David's promised Cornelia a pair of matching paintings,

one black and one white, but it's a process of trial and error.

I mean, 50% of them at least don't work.

Over in Dorking is another of Cornelia's recruits.

This is a really amazing thing actually to look at.

Duo Ackroyd and Harvey, who turn grass into biochemical portraits.

This slightly grainy texture is the seed, and it's just starting to put

So this is in the early stages of developing.

A black and white negative is projected onto the grass.

The more light the grass receives, the greener it will be.

We just need to wait for the grass to grow into a portrait.

Ackroyd and Harvey usually exhibit their work just like this - but

for Cornelia's black and white room it's a little bit too green.

The point is this isn't the finished piece, is it?

Works of grass don't last for long, and Ackroyd and Harvey have come up

A deceptively simple black and white photograph.

That aspect of it being grass - may not be immediately obvious.

I think at this point it's taken on a life of its own.

Two weeks later, and all Cornelia's artists have sent

I'm trying to tease out some playful juxtapositions that I can.

For example, the Bob and Roberta Smith sign above Keith Coventry's

It almost suggests that the reason this window has been

looted is because far less children did art at school.

It's the first time Cornelia's seen some

Ackroyd and Harvey piece - I think it's turned out brilliantly.

I've had a lot of people come in and be drawn to it.

And the closer you get, it disappears.

They become the graphic, when you have the photo of them

but when you get close to them, you know it's a lake of paint that

A lot of people view being in the Summer Show with horror.

These people have trusted me with their work so I hope they can have

I've really been looking forward to seeing the finished room.

And it's mainly because the space can be quite hard to get a

handle on - it's a great jumble full of all sorts of different artworks.

But here, thanks partly to this all encompassing black and white room

by Richard Woods, there's a sort of concept that binds

everything together, so that the art works start to talk to one another.

On the other hand she did get to invite everyone in the room,

unlike every other curator, and I got a sense of how tricky this can

be to hang these other rooms, when I invited Kirsty to rummage through

the hundreds of public submissions stored in the vaults right beneath

our feet, and the challenge was to pick the most works of art that

would make it on to the walls of the final show - and what I didn't tell

Kirsty to begin with is that I had a scheme. I'm joining Alastair

in the underbelly of the Academy, all for the sake of a wager.

Right through here, we have the vaults.

In these rooms are 1200 works of art - but only around half will

Each of us is going to bet on 5 works that we think will end up

The danger is I could be here till midnight.

It's hard to know how to play this one, because for the bet, you know,

you could go for the - the sort of summer exhibition of old, but of

course, it is changing and so that's a slightly risky strategy and I

don't know, you have to kind of follow your guts.

There's a wonderful historical costume drama.

I'm considering that will be on the wall.

Alastair makes his money doing this stuff - he's an art critic,

but it's not a normal exhibition to criticise, is it?

It's very hard for an art critic to get a handle on it.

So maybe being an art critic isn't so much of an advantage.

You've got to pick big bold pieces that have impact.

I can see Kirsty's rummaging around in the smaller works, I'm not

I've picked 3-4 that have made it onto the walls.

Is this what we love or what will be in?

I really love the intensity of colours.

I like the fact you feel the silence in this photo.

You can feel what looks like death, but actually it's to be reborn as

I've gone for figurative, painting, abstract painting, and photograph.

Thanks, this is a painting by Matthew Collings who is

He and his wife have a very distinctive

There's only one thing I notice here, that I didn't notice before,

Her leg comes forward like that, but this is...

Alastair's picked with his head, I've picked with my heart -

and we'll find out who's won the bet on opening night.

What I love about what we've done - we've done

And that reflects the nature of the whole show for sure.

With great reluctance I must concede a point already to Kirsty as I've

spotted one of the picks she selected from the

It's Benedict, and in fact I'm joined now by one of

the stars of Sherlock, Una Stubbs who plays the landlady Mrs Hudson.

Well, Una, who do you deduce painted this?

In fact, is this another one of yours

Have you submitted work before to the summer exhibition?

A few years ago and the handler said when he was handing them back to me,

You have to try again, so I plucked courage and tried.

The pleasure of just seeing them up on the wall.

It's such an amazing British institution.

Kindly eccentric, to give opportunities to amateurs to

You do not have to like them all, you just have to look at the ones

you really enjoy. You have done a great job.

So you fancy yourself as a bit of a collector.

What sort of art are you looking for?

I am a collector in that I own lots of art.

There are few things that give me more pleasure than collecting art.

Thing about the Summer Exhibition is it's overwhelming.

It feels like they have got hundreds of paintings and thrown them

I don't care what art is trying to say, I have no interest.

I care in how it makes me feel and how it might change the feel

I look at a piece like that Van Gogh tapestry or that dollar bill and I

think, how would it change the feel of a room in my house?

So we talked about your taste, but what about when they are

That's the thing that strikes you here - look at that!

How would you begin to know how to hang this?

That's a question that echoes round the Royal Academy every year.

Hanging the show is one of the most daunting tasks

The selection committee have a fortnight to place these

disparate works and turn them into a cohesive show.

You're a curator - does that fill your heart with dread?

If I was to approach this my first emotion would be exhilaration

and then I'd be terrified because it would just be such

a challenge to try and make sense of all the stuff that's going on.

The Hang is the next stage of the selection process.

There are now around 1200 works from the public submissions in the

The committee will need to decide what pieces work together - and

Seems there are going to be big names here.

I'm gonna leave the country shortly after the show opens.

It's an important showcase for a lot of work, a lot of people will

As the hang draws to the end the committee have made

their final decisions and for the artists who've sent

Thank you for delivering your artwork.

The members of the selection committee have given careful

consideration to your entry but we regret to inform you it has not been

"I'm pleased to inform you that your work has been selected."

"I am pleased to inform you that Twister has been accepted" - Yay!

It's not really likely it would get in.

Are you going to enter again next year?

Definitely, I will definitely enter again.

Do you look normal or did you do yourself up to look even weirder?

I look like a sad panda today but at least you can be proud of me,

How does it feel seeing it in the space?

I am floating in mid air but I'm on the floor chatting to you.

Because work is my whole life it is really brilliant for everyone

And it's just so good to be involved with a whole spectrum of works.

So I've lured Kirsty off the sofa and into the gallery.

Not lured me, I'm desperate to be here because I

We selected five works and six of them have made it onto the walls. I

think I have one. How confident are you feeling? Quite confident. Let's

see. One each. Disappointing. One all. You didn't take that but you

did pick that. Benedict. This is the one that I

knew about. Sold already. Did you buy that? I have got Jane Fonda,

cowgirl, Benedict and I have got that one as well. Where does that

take us? It means I have lost. Every year I do this. Every year I am

publicly humiliated as I managed to lose the competition. What is the

score? I think the score will be 4-2. That is quite comprehensive.

That is fine. We are friends. I have never experienced an art exhibition

like this and never experienced a mad dash. It has been extraordinary.

Recently, I experienced a mad dash around the Royal Academy, the likes

I have never experienced before in my life.

As an art critic, I come across weird

But being led blind folded through the RA with nothing

but my imagination and a series of whispered instructions to guide

possibly my most unusual encounter yet.

This is Symphony of a Missing Room, an experimental performance that

encourages visitors to free their minds and experience the Summer

A few days before the show opened, I got a sneak preview

from the brains behind it - artistic duo Lundhahl and Seitl.

I've met quite a few of the artists exhibiting at this year's

Summer Show now, but I haven't found any of them in the courtyard

This is quite a surreal scene, what are you doing with this head?

This is called a binaural microphone.

There's a microphone in each of the ears.

Yes, it appropriates the format of a tour.

So in the work people hear you in their ear?

The voice will give instructions to the visitor.

It could say in front of you is a hand - take the hand.

Lundhahl and Seitl have staged similar tours

at museums around Europe, each time carrying out meticulous

Maybe you can tell me a little about the thinking behind the work?

It started with us looking at visitors of different museums

and realising there is quite a set way of looking at artworks.

There is a certain voice of authority.

There's a certain type of goggle that we do put on unconsciously

Entering here we sort of lower our voices a bit

and we have a certain way of walking as well and a certain speed.

Yeah, looking sort of in a certain speed, a certain rhythm, looking

around and then looking about for some information here to see,

In the piece people will wear these goggles.

This is like a scuba diving mask painted white.

I don't know if we should show it, it looks so silly.

To help nudge our imaginations in the right direction,

each blindfolded visitor will be plugged into

But just don't expect the usual gallery audio guide

on this alternative tour of the Summer Exhibition.

When we were recording in the forest we were there with our daughter.

So this is the power of just a simple clip, a piece of audio that

Very simple bodily illusion tricks the mind to think this is

Everything inside you has been forgotten.

And it's uncanny how much the sound and sense of light occurring

in front of those goggles immerses you in this imaginative world.

And it was weird waking up, everyone else is lying there.

I thought I should come and find someone and share my thoughts.

I think I need to lie down somewhere else now.

And if you fancy trying that out for yourself, Symphony of a

Missing Room is playing here as part of the LIFT festival till tomorrow.

But if you can't make it, Lundhal and Seitl have created

a tour especially for you at BBC Arts Online.

To experience it from the comfort of your own home,

In previous years we wouldn't have seen a work like this at the

It's a complete departure - and definitely a step

A lot of people who come to the Summer Exhibition who don't

So it's really important they can come here and have something

It's a way of introducing new things to a sophisticated

But it's got to be as representative as they can

Is it to be representative or do you think it should be pushing

I take the point it might be representative.

I quite like the fact this is different.

It's similar, it's like nothing else.

And the one thing this isn't is an overweaningly curated thing.

There's no labels, you have to use your mind, work out

It's quite an unpatronising show as far as the viewer's concerned.

Does it really test the temperature of contemporary art?

Having something that's traditional, that's existed for 246 years,

but playing with tradition rather than try and unravel it.

Do you think it's playing about tradition or does contemporary

art have something to say about the world?

One of the main criticisms when I walk round galleries most of

the time is that they don't relate to the real world - they reference

things beautifully, they look like something I've seen before.

But I was teaching at an art school - the kids aren't looking

Stylish, but they leave me empty because

Now we've just proved how much contemporary art can divide opinion.

So spare a thought for the judges of the Wollaston Award.

They have to decide upon the most distinguished work in the

It seems very quiet in here as if the art works are waiting

But before that happens, there is some very serious judging

Earlier today the Wollaston judges whittled down this year's exhibition

of over 1000 paintings, sculptures and prints to a shortlist

Will Morgan I see eye to eye with the judges?

When we check out their selection for ourselves?

It does not surprise me they put Wolfgang Tillmans on the shortlist.

The first thing you think is when you walk in is that it's

It's almost like blood is moving across it or someone

The idea is that it's photography but not as we know it.

Whether that's enough to win, I don't know.

So, a pretty recognisable Michael Craig-Martin.

We know it's a Michael Craig-Martin because he always does paintings

And they look as if they have been done by a human

But for me there is not enough in it to win the award.

So next on the shortlist, Sean Scully.

I think it has got tremendous depth and a huge amount

You kind of forget this is a gallery full of loads of different paintings

Now, this I think is a piece by Marlene Dumas.

I have to say that this is my favourite one.

It looks like someone who has some trauma.

It is almost a challenge or it's a kind of 'you can't help me'.

Now, if had ?25,000 burning a hole in my pocket this is one I

But whose work will the judges crown most distinguished

We have been given special permission to eavesdrop. There was

this in the far distance but it seemed to be quite close up because

it was incredibly strong and vivid and very sensuous. Talking about

that positively. Does that mean they might be the favourite? You're very

impressed by Sean Scully. I liked it. It is your favourite. I think

until you're close to them, you don't experience how sensual they

are. Interesting, because she is a painter backing it. You go close and

you see the painting, the touch, everything is so pitch perfect. Yes.

I want Sean Scully to win. I am a great advocate of Michael

Craig-Martin. I'm not convinced that all. Why don't you like it? I don't

really like locks. Can we go round and decide? It's a big prize. I feel

quite nervous. I'm going to foot for Sean Scully. It will have to be both

gang till months for me. Interesting. Full tank till months

for me as well. He is the winner. This should have

one. So, Alastair,

if you could pick any work in And Morgan - overall

this year's show. It's done a brilliant job

of combining the public submissions with strong

contemporary work and enough there Well, the party's almost over,

but not quite! You can get a guided tour with

Tracey Emin at bbc.co.uk/arts - and other highlights of the

Summer Exhibition. But here to play us out,

it's the Kaiser Chiefs with their Picture

yourself in a glittering silver suit the new recruit Do you remember

the numbers Hung on the door Do you remember

the numbers Hung on the door Meanwhile up in Heaven, they're

waiting for you, waiting for you if you believe them, you will see

that when you them, you will see that when you Are

ready to Led by consuming desire

for a good idea Lighting the clock It's not worked ten

years, but I know that it's still Meanwhile up in Heaven,

they're waiting for you, waiting for And if you believe them, you

will see that when you you will see that when

you Are ready to Your mind is the you will see that when

you Your mind is the

key, it is is the key, it is the key that sets

you free they're waiting for you, waiting for

This is one of the most fire-prone regions on earth.