The Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy

The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2014 results are in and the artworks are on display at Burlington Gardens. Here are our picks and pointers for navigating this vast British institution 

Background

Each year thousands of artists send their work into the Royal Academy in the hope of being accepted for the Summer Exhibition. This year almost 1300 pieces of work have made it in.

Founded in 1768 , The Royal Academy often seems preoccupied with asserting its relevance as a modern, forward-thinking institution. This is reflected by the range of work at the Summer Exhibition as well as by the artists being appointed as academicians . The Summer Exhibition will never represent the cutting edge of contemporary art, but it can be seen as one of the most comprehensive surveys that charts of the current state of amateur and professional practice.

Young Academicians

One newly appointed academician, Bob & Roberta Smith (the pseudonym of one man rather than an artist duo), is prominent at this year's exhibition. Bob & Roberta makes hand-painted signs; his work has always been humorous, even a little confrontational, but recently it has become increasingly political. The RA, the most traditional of institutions, is the only place still offering a formal art education without charging tuition fees. This makes it an unlikely ally in Bob & Roberta's current campaign to preserve arts education from cuts. So it's no surprise to see his polemical Letter to Michael Gove is given space here. But more affecting is Bob & Roberta's transcription of a harrowing interview with Dr David Nott, recorded shortly after the doctor's return from Syria.

Also worth looking out for are two subtle, almost hidden-away, works by last year's Turner Prize winner Laure Prouvost. Elsewhere, a fascinating room is dedicated to architecture and design; including a fantastically bizarre bicycle built by Ron Arad.

Painters & Printmakers

There's always a strong strand of traditionalism at the Summer Exhibition. A group of impressionistic oils by Frederick Cuming and a set of etchings by fellow academician Norman Ackroyd are surrounded by Little Red Dots. The red dot (attached to a work in order to indicate that it's sold) is satirised by Cornelia Parker in Stolen Thunder; a picture of a picture plastered with red dots. A similar age to Ackroyd and Cuming is octogenarian painter Rose Wiley. Wiley's distinctive paintings have an anarchic immediacy that somehow captures the overall atmosphere of this venerable event. All in all there is a huge amount to trawl through but keep your eyes peeled and you are sure to find a personal gem.