Review: Royal Society of British Artists Bicentennial Exhibition

The Bicentennial Exhibition of the Royal Society of British Artists is currently on display at the Mall Galleries and this post comments on the exhibition and the artwork I liked.

This is a review of what I saw last week and also identifies artwork I liked.

You can read who won the prizes in this post Royal Society of British Artists 2023 | Award Winners published by the Mall Galleries.

See also my previous posts

• Call for Entries: 200th Anniversary Exhibition of the Royal Society of British Artists - the RBA invited 200 non-member artists to exhibit in the 2023 Bicentennial exhibition.
• RBA Bicentennial: Sales before opening!
• Renowned Ukrainian sculptor exhibits at RBA Bicentennial

There are 489 artworks spread across the three galleries of the Mall Galleries.  Rather a lot of them seemed to me to be smaller than usual.

One of the display walls in the centre of the west gallery.

You can see digital images of all the artwork on 

• the Mall Galleries website page for the exhibition - which includes links which enable you to buy online
• the RBA Bicentennial Exhibition Page (I'd personally prefer much bigger images of the artwork and much smaller buttons for the "find out more")

I'm also uploading my photos of the artwork in the exhibition to my Facebook Page -  - and will list the gallery albums below.

 
You can see albums of my photos of the exhibition irrespective of whether or not you are a member of Facebook or are logged in or not. I think these help you to appreciate the size of works better and what they look like on the wall with frames etc

• RBA Bicentennial Exhibition - West Gallery
• RBA Bicentennial Exhibition - East Gallery
• RBA Bicentennial Exhibition - North Gallery (includes artwork by Young Artists)

North Gallery

This is a YouTube Video of Mick Davies, President of the RBA introducing the exhibition during the hang process.

The galleries seemed a tad more crowded than usual - but that's unsurprising given the nature of the exhibition and the wish to include 200 artworks from the Open Entry to mark the Bicentennial.

Styles of artwork are as varied as ever and coupled with the fact the RBA accepts drawings, paintings, original fine art prints and 3D artwork makes for a very eclectic exhibition - but one which is rather more contemporary than exhibitions I can remember from when I first started covering this art society's exhibition. The RBA has come a long way in recent years under the Presidency of Mick Davies.

The feature wall next to the Cafe

Most of the smaller 3D art, ceramics and sculpture are in the East Gallery - with larger pieces seen elsewhere in the exhibition.

There is a very impressive Bicentennial Catalogue 1823 - 2023 which provides an excellent one page profile of each of the members in 2023. I can't find a link to where you can purchase it online but it's available at the exhibition.

I did have a niggle. I didn't think either of the normal feature walls i.e. the walls at the extreme west and east of the Mall Galleries had the impact they should have had. Nothing against the art on the walls - it just wasn't the right art for those walls i.e. artwork which makes you want to walk over and take a closer look - from 50 feet away - and didn't have a particularly coherent hang! 

Artworks I liked

Essentially, with so much to look at, these are artworks are ones which get a long second look from me.

The first two are very complex patterns with a very clever use of colour palettes which avoids them looking garish, but rather enhances the experience of looking deeply into what's going on.....

Toodledoodledo by Mick Davies PRBA Hon RSBA
watercolour and ink

You can get absolutely lost in this drawing, working out how it works. This made me think "what goes around comes around" which I guess is not a bad theme for the Bicentennial exhibition.

Celestial by Maryam Dayhim

Oil, 150 x 90 cm (158 x 98 cm framed)

Her work is characterised by a fine attention to detail and acute observation of society and human behaviour in general.

I very much liked the mix of totemic ancient designs and contemporary people and very fine sense of a colour paletter which can accommodate a very complex composition.

Her artwork has previously been selected for the RA Summer Exhibition and the RBSA as well as the RBA.

Next up is a painting which is very much a "look at me" painting. Much larger than others and in the coveted centre place on the long North Wall of the West Gallery - with a seat next to it! If I had one quibble about it, it was that it was in the wrong place - as this is a painting which needs yards in front of it to fully appreciate it and it seemed a bit crowded to me.

Into Glorious Heights by Steven Outram RBA
Oil, 152 x 122 cm (175 x 145 cm framed)
£21,000

Steven Outram was elected a Member of the RBA in 2003. He is a full-time artist, painting and exhibiting throughout his working life since graduation from Medway College of Art aged 20 in 1973. He has won a number of awards and held a number of solo exhibitions over the years. He's also exhibited in a number of group shows all over the UK.

He describes his career as a "a life of painting mood through landscape" and I rather liked this statement on the works page of his website - although I'd have liked to see more of his artwork on his website!

Having studied and revered great European painters, I’ve never felt the need to emulate any of them - better a nobody than someone else’s shadow, as Corot once said

 

Flowers not Weeds by Anna Dowd
Watercolour, 55 x 55 cm (67 x 67 cm framed)
SOLD

I'm always encouraging botanical artists to exhibit at other art societies! There were some good artworks in this show and this was the one I liked the most.

I liked the way it reminded me of Albrecht Dürer's "Great piece of turf" without in any sense being a copy of it.

In terms of artist members who have a series of paintings in the show which stand out for me - there are thew two Annies

• Annie Boisseau
• Annie Williams - who does not have a website, but is a member of three art societies!

Evening Glow by Annie Boisseau RBA
Oil, 25 x 35 cm (42 x 52 cm framed)
SOLD

I just love Annie Boisseau's masterful use of colour and tone to create atmosphere and suggestion in paintings which are semi-abstract with an edge of realism. Somes brownish but never boring!

I see my work as a contemporary interpretation of the tradition of Romantic Landscape painting. It is inspired by an emotional response to the natural world, investigating the often transient qualities of time, space, memories or emotions with expressive semi-abstract painting. Annie Boisseau

Sophia's Pots by Annie Williams RBA RE RWS
Watercolour
28 x 38 cm (45 x 55 cm framed)

Annie Williams RBA RE RWS has been painting the same sorts of paintings in the same sort of way since I've been reviewing art society open exhibitions. I have absolutely no problem with that. They're very aesthetically pleasing to look at and also easy on the eye. I never ever tire at looking at her paintings.

Her very reasonable prices also means she has a steady stream of sales - although oddly fewer than I'd expect this year!

NOTE: I tried to look up a number of artists exhibiting in the exhibition - both members and non-members using the Artist Explorer facility on the Mall Galleries website. I got ZERO RESULTS for all queries. The only way I could access pages for member artists was via Google! I'd suggest the database webware facility is seriously dysfunctional at present - and not meriting a tab on the top menu.