Thousands of artists - including HRH The Prince of Wales - submit work to the annual RWA exhibition
20 September 2012
For immediate release
Submissions have now closed for the 160
th Autumn Exhibition at the RWA. Over the summer, artists from all over the country were invited to submit work for consideration and over 2000 works were submitted from nearly 1000 artists.
As the name suggests, anyone can enter their work for selection, and the Academy’s 160th Autumn Exhibition promises to be a bumper year. Pre-selection begins with the online submissions being judged by a panel of a small number of Academicians representing the Academy, and individuals representing our external partners.
As the RWA’s President, Janette Kerr explains:
“It’s an immediate response that draws you to the work. We look for quality of execution and what impact the work has; for example, is it intriguing, striking or provocative? The Autumn Exhibition needs to be as representative of current art practice as possible and allude to the full spectrum of medium employed by practitioners today. We do our best to ensure that the exhibition does this justice.”
Last year’s Autumn Exhibition featured 508 works by 338 artists, with every piece for sale. Prices from just £25 make this annual show an eclectic mix of work by unknown, emerging and established artists to suit all tastes and pockets.
The nature of the show means that students, young people and artists at the start of their career hang alongside established names such as Kurt Jackson, and even HRH The Prince of Wales, RWA Honorary Academician.
Bringing to a close a fantastic year of exhibitions at the RWA, the Autumn Exhibition showcases the cream of painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, sculpture and architecture selected and curated by an expert panel from thousands of submitted works. Promising to be bigger and better than ever before, this unmissable, mixed discipline show attracts art-lovers and art-buyers from far and wide.
As part of the Autumn Exhibition, we will be opening our Art Clinic - a new service to guide budding collectors in purchasing artwork. Buying a piece of art can be a daunting task when there is so much to choose from so we have teamed up with a number of local art experts to help and advise, ensuring you find the perfect artwork to suit your taste, home and budget. Contact us for more information – www.rwa.org.uk or 0117 973 5129.
The exhibition is open to the public from 21 October until 30 December 2012.
Ends
Notes to editors:
For more information contact Lottie Storey on 0117 906 7604 or lottie.storey@rwa.org.uk
High resolution downloadable images are available at
www.flickr.com/photos/rwapress/sets/ solely for use with media reports. To download high res pictures, please click on the image you require, then click ‘All sizes’ then click on ‘Original’, then ‘Download’.
About the Autumn Exhibition
2155 works were submitted to the 160
th Autumn Exhibition, from 913 artists (an average of 2.4 works per artist). (RWA Academicians are allowed to submit a maximum of 4 works, all other artists are allowed to enter a maximum of 3 works.)
The Royal West of England Academy holds an annual open exhibition - the Autumn Exhibition – now in its 160th year. As the name suggests, anyone can enter their work for this mixed discipline show. A selection panel assesses every entry and last year 508 works by 338 artists made it into the final exhibition. Every work is for sale, and the exhibition attracts art-lovers and art-buyers from far and wide. Submissions of painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, sculpture and architecture from unknown, emerging and established artists, including RWA Academicians, were made online using our Online Submission System (OSS).
Admission prices:
Adults £5
Concessions £3
Return ticket £8 (unlimited repeat visits to this exhibition)
Friends/Under 16s FREE
Group discounts apply – contact us for more information
Opening times:
Monday to Saturday - 9.30am - 5.30pm
Sunday - 11 - 5pm Last admission half an hour before closing
Selection Process
Pre-selection takes place online, after which successful artists will be contacted and asked to bring their works to the RWA for final selection in early October. Collections will be made from designated venues in London, Birmingham, Exeter and Penzance.
There are two stages to the selection process; Stage 1(Online Pre-selection), where submitted images will be looked at online by the selection panel, and Stage 2, where pre-selected works will be delivered to the RWA for final selection for the exhibition.
The 160th Autumn Exhibition is open to the public from Sunday 21 October until Sunday 30 December 2012.
The Selection Panel
Dr Janette Kerr PRWA (RWA President);Peter Ford RWA;Vera Boele-Keimer RWA; Stephen Jacobson RWA; Chris Dunseath RWA; John Eaves RWA; Meryl Ainslie, Director of Rabley Drawing Centre; Andrew Dixon, Chief Executive of Creative Scotland, Chief Executive at Newcastle Gateshead Initiative;
Exhibition prizes include:
The Consumer Intelligence Watercolour Award - £500
The Sky Blue Framing Award - £250 worth of framing
The Bristol First Collective Award £1000 - Collective will buy piece of work/s up to the value of £1000
ART Magazine Award - Feature Article in ART magazine
Louise Copping Fine Art Award - £250 worth of art business consultancy by Louise Copping
UWE Centre for Fine Print Research Award - £450 course voucher
The Pangolin Editions Sculpture Award - 50cm2 Bronze casting
About the RWA
The RWA has eight galleries within the 19th century building. The five upstairs galleries – Sharples, Winterstoke, Stancomb-Wills, Methuen, and Milner - host the main exhibition/s, alongside the Bristol Drawing School studio. Downstairs is the Fedden Gallery and a newly completed gallery space. All gallery spaces are available for private hire for special events, such as weddings and parties, conferences and meetings. If members of the media would like a tour, please contact Lottie as above.
The downstairs area has a shop and a cafe by Papadeli:
http://news.papadeli.co.uk/
The Royal West of England Academy (RWA) is one of only five Royal academies of art in the UK. It is a registered charity which has been self-supporting for over 150 years and possesses an outstanding Grade II* listed building, galleries and permanent fine art collection. The RWA has HM Queen Elizabeth II as its patron and HRH The Prince of Wales is an honorary academician.
The RWA is an established venue for the fine arts and embraces an artistic awareness of the widest nature. The exhibition programme provides a showcase for one-person and mixed exhibitions in a variety of media, which attract large numbers of visitors nationwide.
The Academy is situated in the academic heart of Bristol at the Clifton Triangle, where Queens Road meets Whiteladies Road, opposite the Victoria Rooms.
