Royal Academy Summer Exhibition Shortlist
Matthew dropping off our image “Backbone 2” at The Royal Academy of Arts
Today Matthew dropped off our framed print “Backbone 2” at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the image has been shortlisted for the Summer Exhibition and will now be judged to see if it makes the final show.
We are really proud to have been shortlisted and are enjoying the process so far, fingers crossed we can jump the final hurdle and be exhibited amongst such esteemed company.
Backbone
We thought we would take this opportunity to explain a bit more about the image that has been shortlisted and the series is comes from. We’ve been working on the Backbone project for numerous years, studying and analysing cores on construction sites across London and the UK. Cores are integral to most tall buildings, they carry all the vital services including lifts, water, electrics, gas etc for the new building. They appear quickly on the urban landscape, they’re alien, they feel like an intrusion due to their height and unfamiliar look, they are a sign of imminent change. They represent progress, money and the future. We thought an image from the series would be ideal for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition this year, where the theme is “making space”.
Theme
Ann Christopher RA, coordinator of the Summer Exhibition 2024 explains the theme:
”I plan to explore the idea of making space, whether giving space or taking space. This can be interpreted in various ways: to make space can mean openness – making space for something or someone, also making space between things.”
Backbone_02 was shot in late 2023 on the Regents Canal near Broadway Market and depicts the famous gasholders which tower over the waterway and the local area. The gasholder site is currently under development by Berkeley Homes (Broadway East) and soon the gasholders will be dismantled to be restored and rebuilt around the new flats.
We felt the image fitted the Summer Exhibition theme well, the core represents giving space and taking space, giving space to the owners of the new flats but taking space from the locals who will experience a loss of light currently enjoyed by the open gasholder structure. As always there is a fine balance to be has, and not everyone will be happy. What we love about the series itself is that the images represent a moment in time which will not last long and will never be the same again, i.e once the building is built around the core. This image has an even stronger sense of changing space because of the gasholders, a constant for over a century (They were built in 1886/1889) will soon be dismantled, they will return but the space internally and externally will never be the same again.
Aside from the connotations we love the colour of the frames, the composition and the way the core and cranes fit. We will keep you posted on the Royal Academy’s decision.