LONDON, ENGLAND.- Since the foundation of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1768, the annual Summer Exhibition has been the world’s largest open-submission contemporary art exhibition. Now in its 237th year, the exhibition continues the tradition of displaying a wide range of new work by both established and unknown artists in all mediums including painting, printmaking, sculpture and architecture. The exhibition co-ordinators for the 2005 Summer Exhibition are Professor Stephen Farthing RA and Professor Christopher Orr RA. Following the tradition of having a dedicated theme running throughout, this year’s special focus will be the use of multiple images or objects across all mediums.

The broad theme of the multiple image or object will cover printmaking, and in addition to the very popular print room, another gallery, curated by both Stephen Farthing and Chris Orr, will be dedicated to the use of multiples in all its manifestations including works created using mechanical or technological intervention. A number of photographs and sculpture editions will be displayed alongside more conventional examples of printmaking. Internationally acclaimed artists whose work will be exhibited include Paula Rego, Langlands and Bell, Mimmo Paladino, Richard Hamilton, Helen Frankenthaler, Chuck Close and Louise Bourgeois.

Ed Ruscha, elected an Honorary Academician in May last year, and representing America at this year’s Venice Biennale, will be the featured artist for this year’s Summer Exhibition. Allen Jones RA is working with Ed Ruscha to curate a gallery within the exhibition. Concentrating mainly on his multiple works it will include photographs and books in addition to some paintings.

To complement the exhibition, David Nash RA will display three of his sculptures in the Annenberg Courtyard. Expanding on his central theme exploring the relationship between man and nature, Pyramid, Sphere and Cube, 1997-98 are based on the universal geometry of these three forms. A life-long researcher into the language of wood, his sculptures combine the remote rugged environment of North Wales with an ability to draw out the subtle nuances of different woods.

The Summer Exhibition traditionally includes special displays of works by Honorary and Royal Acadamicians who have died during the previous year. This year will include memorials to the late Peter Coker and the late Norman Adams. Peter Coker died in December 2004 and was a vibrant and challenging landscape painter who became a member of the RA in 1972. This display of his work will explore his career. The painter Norman Adams who died in March, also joined the Academy in 1972 and became Keeper of the Schools in 1986, a post he held for nine years.

Each year, the Summer Exhibition presents a series of awards totalling £70,000 of prize money for artists of exceptional merit. Each prize is donated by commercial and industrial sponsors as well as by generous individuals including Winsor and Newton, The Architects Journal and Jack Goldhill. Established in 1978, the RA Charles Wollaston Award is, at £25,000, one of the largest and most prestigious art prizes in Britain. Previous winners include Jake and Dinos Chapman (2003), Alan Charlton (2002), Marc Quinn (2001), Gerard Hemsworth (2000), David Hockney (1999), John Hoyland (1998) and R. B. Kitaj (1997).

The Selection Committee for 2005, will consist of Dame Elizabeth Blackadder, Olwyn Bowey, Maurice Cockrill, Eileen Cooper, Stephen Farthing, David Hockney, Paul Huxley, Leonard McComb and Chris Orr (painters and printmakers), James Butler, John Maine and David Nash (sculptors), Peter Cook, Eva Jiricna and Sir Richard MacCormac (architects). Following tradition, the newly appointed President of the Royal Academy, Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, will chair the Committee.

The Summer Exhibition 2005 is complemented by a diverse programme of special events, evening lectures and gallery talks.

For families there are specific gallery talks, plus family workshops. For children aged between 8 and 13 there is a free printed guide sheet to the exhibition. Activity trays, including art materials, are available for younger visitors to create their own works of art.