When in Bristol it would be churlish not to visit the Royal West of England Academy, particularly when it has its 171st Annual Open Exhibition on. Like the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition in London, the RWA selects from thousands of submissions of artwork to stage this annual exhibition. The chosen artworks are exhibited alongside work by the current 150 Academicians and a special invited artist who, for this year, is Rana Begum RA, whose minimalist work I really like.
As with the RA Summer show, the RWA Open is a plethora of artworks covering the walls in many different media and sizes. Whilst difficult to concentrate on any one work in particular, because there are so many and few relationships between them, it is fun to spot work by friends and others that I’ve come across briefly before, and see where their work is heading. Nice work too in the Candidates Room by seven artists who are currently hoping to be elected as future Academicians. My money is on Sarah Purvey, Jemma Appleby and Helen Cass, but we’ll see.
The RWA is one of only five Royal Academies of Art in the United Kingdom, and the only one operating from its original, purpose-built gallery. It is easy to focus on London when you live there, but important not to forget the excellence that is championed elsewhere. The RWA is certainly cherished by artists who live and work in the South West and offers those visiting, a unique insight into the talent here.