Summer Exhibition 2007 at the Royal Academy

The Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition 2007 opens on Monday 11 June and continues to Sunday 19 August 2007. The annual Summer Exhibition is the world's largest open submission contemporary art exhibition, with a tradition of showcasing work by unknown and emerging artists alongside that of more established names. The Summer Exhibition attracts about 9,000 paintings, sculptures, photographs, drawings, prints, and architectural models. I have often found this exhibition to be somewhat pretentious and I laughed last year when the judges thought an empty plinth was minimalist art but the 2006 Summer Exhibition still attracted over 150,000 paying visitors. If you don't fancy the whole exhibition, there is always an artwork in the courtyard in front of the Royal Academy on Piccadilly. Last year I saw Virgin Mother by Damien Hirst and it didn't cost me a penny.

• Summer Exhibition Information (Royal Academy web site)
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