Last week, I went to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in London. What a delight to see Textiles hung in the show alongside paintings, prints and sculpture. Indeed, the artwork by Richard Malone, reproduced (in part) on the large banner on the front of the building (seen below) is a textile piece, entitled ‘poem in the dark about sadness/fillocht faoi bhron, as an dorchadas‘
Here is the piece, as seen in the gallery. It is dramatic and full of impact.
Displayed in the same room is this exciting piece by Annie Folkard called ‘Good Vibrations‘. The colours really sing!
In this much quieter piece, soft colours inter-change in the textural layers of this woven textile of wool and linen by Fiona Curran ‘Glide above the Grass’.
Ben Stringer’s large textile piece ‘Heathrow Embroidered’ is hung quite high on the gallery wall. I would have liked to have seen this complex stitched mark-making close up!
Another stitched and textural piece, ‘Quilt City’ by Anna Russell is also rather too high up to see all the details of its contours but it catches one’s eye from across the gallery.
Blair Cahill’s embroidery ‘Gayle and Din’ is a delight. What an engaging double portrait – and all in fabric and thread.
These are just a few of the textile artworks on show in the Summer Exhibition this year. There were many paintings I would have liked to have taken home but what a joy to see such lovely textiles, holding their own in a mixed show!
The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition runs from 13th June to 20th August 2023 in Picadilly, London W1J 0BD.
Find out more about the Summer Exhibition here: https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/summer-exhibition/
Thank you for reading my blog. Quilt patterns are here, Fabrics are here, Classes are here and quilts for sale here
Click the ‘Follow’ button to get a blog-post by email each Monday and click here if you would like the monthly newsletter with design and colour inspiration, etc.
The ‘Playtime’ quilt pattern is for a cheerful playmat. Get the pattern here
Amanda Jane Textiles 