For the second year running I have two framed pieces included in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in London.  ‘Taxis cross the frozen Lena river, Yakutsk’ 2004 (40×30″) and ‘Lounge of former sanitorium, Sludyanka’ 2005 (40×30″), both from my Motherland series, are on display at the RA from 8 June – 16 August.

The Summer Exhibition is the largest open submission contemporary art exhibition in the world, drawing together a wide range of new work by both established and unknown living artists. In its 241st year, it includes around 1200 works and this year’s exhibition coordinators are Royal Academicians Will Alsop, Ann Christopher and Eileen Cooper. The theme this year is Making Space.

© John Roberts, 2009

My photographs appear in the John A. Roberts Friba Gallery, which was hung by Richard Wilson and Eileen Cooper, and can be seen in the installation photograph above (on the bottom left and bottom right of the image). Thanks to my Dad for taking the photographs and who, by the way, is no relation of John A. Roberts, the retired international Architect and a Fellow of The Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA)!

The room is largely devoted to photographic work and as the introductory wall text explains “In the old days, reactionary opinion would have been horrified at the presumptuous advent of photography in the hallowed portals of the Royal Academy. But now it seems absolutely right to acknowledge the forceful presence of photographic media in art practice.”

© John Roberts, 2009

Much like strawberries at Wimbledon, the Summer Exhibition is an annual fixture on London’s social calendar, with visitors flocking to see the works of both professional and amateur artists, while sipping on Pimms. This is especially true of Buyers’ Day where the atmosphere is convivial but competitive, as people jostle to see the exhibits, while also trying to pick up a bargain (I was thrilled to discover an orange dot under one of my pictures!).

The exhibition is loved and hated in equal measure, and is amusingly described in an article in The Times this week as “the art world’s annual jumble sale: you can pick up anything from a vast canvas by a venerable Royal Academician to a tiny print by some talented amateur.”

© John Roberts, 2009

The idea of an art exhibition as a spectator sport brings me nicely on to the Derby Day at Epsom Racecourse, another hugely popular event on the social calendar, which took place last Saturday. As discussed previously on the blog, the Epsom Derby was famously portrayed in oil on canvas by William Powell Frith in his painting The Derby Day (1856-8). The painting of the crowds at Epsom on Derby Day itself drew crowds to the exhibtion room at the Royal Academy in 1858 and proved so popular that rail had to be put up to keep back the crowds.

William Powell Frith, The Derby Day (1856-8). Oil on canvas.

The Derby is considered one of the most prestigious flat thoroughbred horse races in the world. The first recorded race took place in 1661. For spectators, the Derby has long been known for its unique party atmosphere and for the full range of social classes on view. Tens of thousands of people flock to a public area known as The Hill, where entry to the centre of the course is free. You could say that this photograph, which will appear in the book, is my attempt at replicating Frith’s wonderfully satirical painting-

Derby Day, Epsom Downs Racecourse, Surrey, 7th June 2008 © Simon Roberts

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Graduation season is upon us once again, when a slew of new photographers will be leaving BA and MA courses from across the country. One such graduate, Andy Greaves, who has recently completed the MA Photography course at De Montfort University in Leicester, was kind enough to get in touch recently with details of his final thesis. Greaves has produced a series of portraits around the theme of English identity.

Here’s a short commentary about his ‘England My England’ project with a selection of photographs.

“After careful consideration I am driven to the conclusion that my ‘English’ identity is deep within me, symbolically at my own front door. That my own identity and that of being English is as much shaped by my own personal history as it is by the Englishness defined by any academic notions of the subject; the country’s aspects of climate, social, political and cultural history. To ignore our own personal history is to ignore not just an essential part of who we are as individuals but what makes us all collectively English. I do not deny that English nationalism exists but it is similarly difficult to deny that the nation state is not constructed by those it best profits: the politicians, the Established order, the monarchy, and the Church. Furthermore that national identity is both multi faceted and continuously shifting. If I sound cynical and ambivalent it is because my own personal experiences, readings and education have ingrained within me this opinion.”

Brian © Andy Greaves, 2008

Vendor © Andy Greaves, 2008

“As photographers we are often outsiders looking in and therefore only expected to respond visually to what is in front of us backed up by the necessary research. During this project I have felt the burden of being on the inside looking out, having to consider those aspects of Englishness, the mass of cultural, historical, political baggage that an Englishman would necessarily take for granted and an outsider would be unaware of.”

Elizabeth, Alan and Karl © Andy Greaves, 2008

Emily © Andy Greaves, 2008

“My series of images attempt to capture my feelings towards my nationality, a personal reflection of Englishness. Essentially of friends, family and close acquaintances they attempt to show a quintessential Englishness. They are of people who in many ways have shaped and represent my current thinking on Englishness.”

Annie and Andrew © Andy Greaves, 2008

Mum and Dad © Andy Greaves, 2008

You can see the entire series on Greaves’ website here.

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