A-level Summer Exhibition Online 2017
Here, There and Everywhere
12 June - 20 August 2017
Online
Free
Selected from over 2,400 submissions, the A-level Summer Exhibition Online is a showcase of the UK’s young artistic talent.
This year, 1,200 aspiring artists attending sixth form colleges or schools submitted their work to the A-level Summer Exhibition Online 2017. Take a look at this exhibition of 49 outstanding works of art, selected by our expert panel: Royal Academician Wolfgang Tillmans, curator Per Rumberg, and RA Schools student Jessy Jetpacks.
Having work chosen to appear in the A-level Summer Exhibition Online is a great achievement for young artists in the UK. Many of these students will go on to develop their talents at art school and in their careers. Students from all over the UK enter their works and the exhibition showcases a rich variety of styles and media: from drawing and video to sculpture and prints, painting and photography.
Held to coincide with the world’s largest open-entry exhibition, the Summer Exhibition, this online equivalent for artists aged 16–18, signals an exciting future for art in this country. Be among the first to discover these artists now.
"It is easy to dismiss 16-18 year-olds as not knowing what they are thinking and feeling. But the privilege of being on the jury this year allowed me to witness the clarity of thought, vision, and intuition that a young mind has. I think Here, There and Everywhere deserves a great deal of attention and so do the artists selected. As always there is the quagmire of drawing the line, in or out. We, the jury, would like to send a great deal of encouragement to those who didn’t just make the cut, to not lose faith, and to carry on exploring your vision. Next time, yours might get selected."
– Wolfgang Tillmans
View our gallery of the 65 commended works shortlisted by the judges.
Please note, this exhibition contains some adult content.
Free
The Pits
Alice Wade
St Mary's School Calne
I was inspired by the use of cognitive dissonance by numerous video artists and related that to my interest in the perception of female body hair. I took audio from a male grooming pubic hair ad and overlaid it with an almost 'how-to' guide for dying your armpit hair. In The Pits, I suggest that men are encouraged to experiment with their body hair and so can women. Female body hair isn't gross, as the patriarchy suggests, it can be used to experiment with. Your body is a canvas, have fun with it!
Take a dump on Trump,
Riddlesdown Collegiate
I was inspired by Australian artist Illma Gore and her crudely naked painting of Trump. I wanted my sculpture to be equally as shocking to match Trump's own proposals. After visiting the 2016 Turner prize I was inspired to create a sculpture as a response to Gore's work. I created a wrinkled bottom and painted it with tacky tan lines and tattoos of Trump then fitted the backside with a hand-embroidered thong of the US flag, complete with label reading 100% American, White Wash Only
Brexit Negotiations,
King Edward VI School
The artwork features May, Merkel, Putin, Johnson and Farage engaged in a game of poker around the negotiating table. This is part of a series of political cartoons in the post-Brexit political world, inspired by the work of Peter Brookes and Steve Bell. With the use of gifs I aim to bring the cartoons to life and into the modern era
Refugee Crisis,
ACS Hillingdon International School
Inspired by the image of a drowned Syrian refugee baby on the beach near a Turkish resort in 2015, I created this piece as a depiction of the shocking events that resonate with the current refugee crisis. Furthermore, the narrative aspect of the Bayeux Tapestry as historical record motivated me to illustrate the scenes from the immigration crisis. As an international school student, the multicultural nature of my audience encouraged me to create work that would initiate conversations fuelled by multiple perspectives regarding the crisis, and exemplify the power that art can have on the manifestation of change within communities
Ryan Sucks Tit of Rupert Murdoch,
The Tiffin Girls' School
This is a painting about the influence of media and intergenerational warfare
Grotesque Twins,
Bedford College
My series of Grotesque Women was influenced by my readings of John Berger's book Ways of Seeing and in particular the chapter based on the objectification of women in art: "Thus she turns herself into an object and most particularly an object of vision; a sight". Instead of engaging the audience in a pleasant inviting way, my intention is to disgust and frighten the audience by exaggerating features. The positions and the gestures portray an element of sexual tension, whereas when you look at their faces, the eyes are hollow and the expression they pull is very dull as if the females were annoyed by the audience
Anxiety,
New Hall School
How they are scared of being constrained and how they eagerly want to escape from the aquarium, the control of humans
Untitled,
The Tiffin Girls' School
In this piece I was exploring themes of childhood, memory and perception through the use of strange and unnerving details. I began with a photograph of myself as a baby surrounded by multiple stuffed toys which I then edited in order to add creepy features or distortions to lead them into the realm of the "uncanny valley". The idea behind this was to represent the traumas and demons of one's childhood as physical manifestations through objects that are typically represented as comforting and familiar so as to incite the intended response of unease and distrust
Untitled,
The Thomas Hardye School
The focus of the project works to examine the social divide between affluence and deprivation, exploring the concept to observe and visually record the people living in the areas of which are subject to pejorative stereotypes and dismissive attitudes. Evaluating the work of Dana Luxemburg in the Imperial courts housing project 1993-2015 series, which visualises the impact of gang culture and social change, and Laura Pannack's The Walks inspired me to draw a focus on ordinary individuals who we often fear as a threat
Asini,
Simon Langton Boys School
This piece was produced as a result of a study into conventional beauty, and the richness a pure aesthetically appealing portrait could convey. Inspired by Mercedes Helnwein, I used a sultry, moody image with a cinematographic essence. I was also influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite era of fine art, using a similar hypo-realistic approach in regards to the technique
Unknown,
The Thomas Hardye School
In this series, I have focused on the influential significance of faith in many lives, observed through the perspective of both its believers and its sceptics. The project works to evoke the personal, emotional and devastation aspects of the religious life cycle , to portray the transition between religion as an option and the dependence, insurance and self-security in which we seek at times of desperation
Ain't No Place Like Home,
Loreto College
This photography project looked at homelessness in Greater Manchester. During this project i came across a group of homeless people living in a camp they called ACE (Alex, Collin and Emma). I talked with them about their experiences being homeless and they were gracious enough to allow me to take photographs of them as well as their 'homes'. In this specific picture you see Collin and Emma
A Leaf in the Daisy Field,
The Thomas Hardye School
One percent of the British population has been diagnosed with a form of Autism. This therefore being a big part of everyday life for 2.8 million families, including my own, my project was focused on the challenges faced by my little sister Daisy,who has Asperger syndrome. It was imperative that during this project I presented her differences in a positive light. This image displays the bizarre obsessions Daisy once had with supermarkets, also incorporating the fear she once had of having her hair cut
Faith,
The Thomas Hardye School
The theme of multiples underpins Faith, conveying my subject matter – the plight of refugees and the pain of separation – through structural repetitions and material variations, as well as the repetition of forms to create impact. I have used pigmented concrete to create war-torn figures that mirror the environment in which conflict has taken place – streets strewn with rubble and concrete. Involved in the sculpture are a soldier, mother and child, whose dynamic positions create an emotional narrative that highlights the physical and psychological struggles of both families and front-line troops
Napoleon Series,
Sydenham School
My school project was to invent my own artist and showcase their work. I chose to look at emerging feminist art of 1970s America, specifically Eleanor Antin's Portrait of the King (1972). My artist, Nova Wolff (1938-1999) was a recluse feminist artist, struck by influences of Betty Freidan and the horrors of the Vietnam war. This translated into her exploration into Napoleon to resonate with the Vietnam war atrocities and the powerful influence these generals had, leading to mass suffering on both sides. She created the Napoleon (1975) series, which shows Wolff embodying Napoleon as a symbol of political disaster
There
Lost History,
Magdalen College School
This piece was inspired by the dual decay of fabric and body in grave and burial grounds. I loved how fragments of textiles are found covering the skeletal remains of a body, both with very different histories, which are both lost due to inevitable death and decay. I was also interested by Peruvian fabrics, and how stories and history are recorded through them. I wanted to portray this sense of lost histories, which have been left to rot away with the body and fabrics of the people who lived them
Balance,
Beaulieu Convent School
The piece Balance was created in the influence of Andy Goldsworthy's outside structures and technical skills in using true, raw materials to connect the feelings and emotion to passers of its spaces. I had started to admire the idea of art created by solid nature when I was researching for my final A2 level coursework project. The thought of the art having an everlasting presence of energy around its surroundings had a depth to it that seemed infinite. This piece was based around the peaceful side of the woodland transpiring into a human expression which underlines the continual connections that we have with our surroundings
Flower power,
King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls
In this portrait I attempted to adopt the painting style of artist Kehinde Wiley. He seems to exaggerate highlights and shadows in his pieces, which are almost exclusively of people of colour. This community has historically experienced a lack of representation in art. He also explores masculinity and power, which are things I took into account when finding an image to paint
1st Birthday,
Tolworth Girls School
My influence for this piece came from my focus on memories within the theme of Journeys. The painting depicts my older brother's 1st birthday and includes both my older brother as a child and my father. Whilst this scene is a poignant childhood memory, I wanted to retain the fact that it is a memory, so I fragmented sections of the scenery in the style of Agnes Toth to visually represent this idea of growth and time passing
Hunting horizon,
Alec Reed Academy
Inspired by the works of many artists throughout the years like Kelvin Okafor, Emanuel Dascanio, Van Gogh etc., I delved into creating artworks, especially drawings, that combine both realism and movement. This drawing encapsulates the desire to seek and chase the infinity
Coast,
The Latymer School
I wanted to take apart my relationship with the seaside, treading the boundary between expectations and reality. I contrasted the busy and vibrant beach-life with the tranquil escape of being submerged.My relationship with the seaside has always been complex, seaside influences such as Barry Jenkins' Moonlight; and Frank Ocean's Channel Orange are some of my favourite artworks. However, they are vastly different to my experiences with the stressful nature of British seasides; the pressure to capture every last moment of sun whilst packed onto a crowded beach
Family Album,
Southport College
Exploring the theme of social documentary I produced a series of images depicting family life and the environment that the subject inhabits
Hierarchy,
Twyford Church of England High School
This photograph reflects the everyday life of a multicultural society. The image is a representation of hierarchy within communities in London, shown through the man in the middle towering above the shadowed individual
Real Men Have Curves,
Westminster Academy
This is a transcription of Titian's Venus of Urbino, a symbol of beauty, love and desire. She is replaced with a full-figured man who is made to feel ashamed of his body as he is not deemed beautiful under societal norms. The body guides a line down the piece by which there is an evident split between beauty and ugliness. The satin red sheets and the smooth brush strokes jar with the impasto and sharp lines of the background. This background is a psychological landscape that represents his anxiety and stress; the warm colours make it visibly uncomfortable
Waiting At The Stops,
Twyford Church of England High School
This photo was inspired by Felix Hernandez and his work with creating bigature photos. I wanted to use the same ideas as Felix to see where it got me. The train and the signal light are both miniature models. I wanted to try and create a scene where the models looked like they were situated in real life. A layer of icing sugar has been dusted on the models and art board to create a scene full of snow
Iceland under cloud pt. I,
Ousedale School
I visited Iceland with my school last October and, like the majority, found it to be one of the most surreal and breathtaking places I've ever experienced.The school had a strict itinerary in place which conflicted with my take-it-slow attitude to photography, especially when working with film, like I was.
The weather on this day was particularly volatile and as I walked up to the glacier (very much behind the rest of my group) fog began rolling over the mountain perpendicular to the path. I took a photo and the moment passed, along with the view
Bathroom,
Lady Margaret School
The comfortable environment of the bathroom: a place where one is completely alone with one's thoughts, without the expectations of others influencing them, one is completely unmasked. I began to delve deeper into exploring what made a comfortable environment: colour, warmth, familiarity? I then wanted to completely deconstruct this, and transform a place of comfort into a place of disturbance and unsettledness, exploring the effect of colours and shapes, and finally creating my uncomfortable bathroom. The bathroom has the option for two different light settings, which evoke different unsettling moods within the experiencer
St Catherine's Head of Siena,
The Thomas Hardye School
I was inspired by the reliquary of Saint Catherine's head which I saw in the Siena Duomo. I found the decadence of such a gruesome display of sacrifice and death quite disturbing and wanted to make a simplified version of the form. The harsh, irregular stitches used to build up the face make it seem robust, though this strength is juxtaposed by the delicacy of the fabric and tactile nature of the textile medium
The Meeting...,
City and Islington Sixth Form College
This small drawing was inspired by Marina Abramovi? and Ulay, when they met in one of Abramovi?'s performances, The artist is present. I was looking at relationships and how they have many layers
Red Boxes,
Exeter College
Here I was trying to create a sense of isolation by focusing on the figure and its surroundings. I was heavily inspired by the art of Vicken Parsons and Constant Nieuwenhuys, who produce works which aren't too dissimilar in style to architectural designs, yet have the effect of alienating the viewer through extremely cluttered or bare images. This was something I wanted to explore in my own piece: how can a figure's surroundings appear to isolate them?
Boxed man,
Exeter College
I was exploring the theme of isolation, and how I could communicate this to the viewer. I was particularly interested in artists who explored this theme through the way they presented the human figure, such as Francis Bacon, Antony Gormley and Kathe Kollwitz. Although the finished piece appears slightly cartoonish in style, I hoped the overall effect of the piece would be unsettling and claustrophobic
Drift Head,
Rochester Independent College
I like making sculpture from reclaimed materials, seeing the possibilities in discarded metal, wood, tools, bones and wire, etc. I enjoy exploring the contrasts between different materials and the how organic materials can become machine-like and vice versa. In this sculpture I have used mainly organic materials held together with wire to give a sense of lightness to the piece
Giacometti's Rock
Rory O'Neill
Sydenham School
1938. Giacometti has been thrown out of the Surrealists. He isolates himself from Parisian life, holed up in his studio, Samuel Beckett being one of few visitors. He thinks back to his childhood and his encounters with a frightening dark rock. He drinks coffee, chain smokes and eats simple food, bread and ham. My video recreates this episode in Giacometti's life. I took ideas from Beckett's plays such as repetition and futility to show the mental anguish of Giacometti.
Everywhere
A is for Adult,
The Tiffin Girls' School
I created this hand-felted and embroidered textiles piece to portray the juxtaposition of our childhood hopes and wishes and the mundane reality of adulthood, reflecting my own emotions about growing older
Table of Elements,
Queen's College
I have always been fascinated by the ways science can be used to inspire artists. Taking chemistry A-level, I use the periodic table of elements often. I thought it would be interesting to use the structure and organisation as inspiration. Each circle represents an element and I have cut out the general shape of each element inside (apart from the gases on the right hand side). I love the underlying order beneath the layout, making the piece more structured than expected
Under the Skin,
Melton Vale Post 16 Centre
My curiosity about the human form, how it works and what lies beneath the skin led me to produce a textile collar. Inspired by the brief Biomorphic Forms, I created a piece of work that explored the anatomical and biological structure of the human body. The collar depicts the beautiful and complicated design of the neck muscles in an interactive and intriguing way. Influences from Sarah Yakawonis and Fernando Vicente's work have given me inspiration for this project, which illustrates to the observer how fascinating we are under the skin
Tights 3,
St Aidan's and St John Fisher Associated Sixth Form
After working on the title, portraiture and distortion; I was inspired to produce these images as my final outcomes. I was influenced by the work of Sarah Lucas, Martha Graham and Edward Weston
Ideals,
The Thomas Hardye School
In 2014, Dorset county council reveal eight proposed static traveller sites: new areas to quench the need for improved facilities and space for the traveller populations across Dorset. Despite the need for new pitches, each and every site proposed was contested by local residents, or deemed unsuitable by the Gypsy council and local MPs. Of No Fixed Abode investigates the ongoing contest between travelling people, the council and local residents. Ideals depicts the romantic ideology of a life on the road, whilst being surrounded by the mundanity and reality of static living
Barren 2,
St Benedict's School
Inspired by Luc Tuymans, this piece creates a sense of loneliness as this football pitch is devoid of children, removing life, changing our expectations. The location is emphasised by the scratching away of the goal post onto the white acrylic sheet
Urban Decor,
St Benedict's School
My piece was inspired by city urban decay and industrialism. The legs are made from MDF slabs that were then layered with quick-dry concrete before being roughly painted in an acrylic grey. The rough paint symbolises both human imperfections in construction and the masking of manufacturing with culture and design
14:55/14:57,
Cobham Hall School
I used a wider range of block colours rather than blending. I also used thick paint in some areas to create the texture of trees and to show how the light was being blocked out. I used thick paint in a similar colour to the background with a wallpaper stencil to make the pattern subtler
African Memory,
The Sweyne Park School
My paintings are abstract and deal with the formal elements of painting: colour, drawing , shape, contrast. I have developed my approach from working on figures in crowds and found my forms in response to the compositions I worked out from these observations. My palette is influenced by my African upbringing with its strong light and colour intensity. I look for scale and rhythm to animate my colour and provide a sense of architecture to my marks. my biggest influence is the work of Hans Hofmann with his intensity of colour and invention of marks and brushstrokes
Mother's Nature's Natural Chaos,
London Design and Engineering UTC
This piece was designed with the thought of nature evolving towards the extent where it overtook humanity when it was at its weakest. This is the time period where we have yet to experience, towards the future decades from now. During this time period, humans have used up all their resources and have become so dependent on technology for their every need in life that they don't know how to adapt towards their new environment. In a way you can say this is Mother Nature taking back what was once was hers – the natural chaos in a beautiful, serene way blending in with humanity's past. This piece was made by the use of the laser cutter machine
Capturing Transitory Mediums,
Francis Holland School
A wall hanging inspired by the performance art of Ragnar Kjartansson and ideas of repetition along with movement that further sparked an interest in transitory mediums, most significantly water. I was seeking to capture the movement of water while alluding to the next, with the final wall-hanging combination a series of panels that have been stitched together
Shadow Bars,
Moretonhall school
Shadow Bars depicts a juxtaposition between the sanctuary of a bedroom and the isolation and loss of self suffered by Romanian orphans during the Ceasceau's leadership. Working from scrumpled sheets made from fired porcelain clay, I used colour with care in order to depict the warm glow given by physical contact with others, alongside the looming perspective of the bars of prison-like cots. I have been inspired by Helen Frankenthaler, Anselm Kiefer, and Kristin Moran. The bed sheets sit abandoned on a windowsill. A diagonal line in the centre relates to my research into hugging and the joyous response of a small child running to be held
Mason Jar,
Burford School
I have a strong interest in photo-realistic art and have studied Todd Ford, whose work is of an extremely photo-realistic style and focuses on the distortions created by glass on other objects. This aspect of his work inspired this piece of fruit in a mason jar, which i have created using acrylic paints on board
The Physical Connection Between Backs and Mountains,
Cranleigh School
With this piece I was focused on the beauty and strength of mountains and how they relate to our backs, in ways such as the complexity and wonder of them. I was focused on the sublime aspect of them both and how no one really appreciates their mass and vastness. I found it hard to explain how I wanted people to feel; I felt it was very personal because some can relate to it more so than others. I feel that you have to engage your mind more so than with other work and be open to the beauty of both the body and mountains
In the Loop,
The Thomas Hardye School
The interdisciplinary nature of art gives me the freedom to express my concerns about the world in a tangible form. In the Loop inspired by Nam June Paik, highlights how EU countries dump recycled electronic goods in West Africa. Consisting of discarded TVs, the installation displays a fractured image of a boy on an e-waste dump. The screens – distorted using magnets – mirror the toxic chemicals released from burning electronics. A pen-drawn background, projected onto staggered and suspended screen-printed canvases, creates a dystopian backdrop. Cables litter the middle ground, bridging the gap between reality and the fictitious drawing
Contained Still Life
Ella Sheffield
Sutton High School
Using the base of Giorgio Morand's work, due to the compositional balance and simplicity of the subject matter, to initiate the film. Nam June Paik inspired the shots that are of the outside of the box, playing with the ideas of reality in art, putting another dimension into the film concerning the actual making of the art. With my exploration of The Neon Demon and the range of techniques used – static camera, geometric compositional elements, coloured lighting, as well as the music, I feel the inanimate subject matter gains a sense of emotion.