RSA 200th Annual Exhibition review: Art across the ages
The Royal Scottish Academy marks its bicentenary with a wide-ranging showcase of contemporary art and architecture
The Royal Scottish Academy celebrated a major milestone in May, marking 200 years of supporting art and architecture in Scotland. Back in 1826, one of the founders’ aims was to showcase artists of merit through an annual exhibition. In this year’s show, curated by exhibition convenor Annie Cattrell with assistance from architecture convenor Fergus Purdie, an architectural sketch responds to the theme of ‘Beginning(s)’ as Richard Murphy audaciously imagines what a glossy, modern RSA building on Princes Street might look like, across the road from the historic landmark’s current home on The Mound.
Elsewhere, the tricentenary of the birth of Edinburgh-born geologist James Hutton is marked with the theme ‘In Time’. Glorious, curvaceous and also angular cuboid works in pink granite, limestone, marble and metadolerite are presented by Angela Palmer and Jake Harvey, among others. Architectural drawings of Martin Creed’s marble ‘Work No 1059: The Scotsman Steps’ from 2010 seem to unintentionally straddle both themes. Alongside the deep time complexities of igneous rocks, human time is considered through Christine Roychowdhury’s moving ‘Hospitalised’, a harrowing oil painting of her mother, drawing attention to the dehumanising treatment of the elderly. There are also visceral, silky ripples in Allyson Keehan’s ‘Of My Flesh: Birth Mess’ and fleshy, sanguinary folds in Louise Gibson’s ‘Atrophy (The Shark)’.
Hundreds of paintings, photos, tapestries and sculptures chosen from online submissions by artists at all stages of their careers are on show. Handily, the entire collection can also be browsed online. Highlights to seek out are Jim Lambie’s muted sunglass-lens mandala ‘Star Dancing’; Joseph DeLappe’s tiny but triumphant ‘Trump Is A Cunt: Janey Godley Monument’; the clean lines of Toby Paterson’s warming ‘Breakfast In Madrid’; and Mella Shaw’s eco-alarmed response to deep seabed mining in ‘Rare Earth Rising’.
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, until Sunday 14 June.