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Paul Brandford oversees a life-drawing workshop at Greenwich’s Eltham Hill School, with life model Anna Bird

Inside the Academy

1 day ago

Art under threat: why teaching’s in decline in our schools

Amy Sherlock addresses the slump in art teaching in Britain’s schools, and the effect this has on the art education ecosystem.

Students at work in the Royal Academy Schools, January 2019

Opinion

1 day ago

Art under threat: the growing crisis in higher education

Britain’s reputation as a creative country is at risk, as threats mount to the education pathway that leads potential artists from school to university to professional life. Sam Phillips reports on the political challenges facing higher education.
Venus Rising from the Sea (‘Venus Anadyomene’), c. 1520, by Titian, at ‘The Renaissance Nude’

RA Exhibitions

11 days ago

Why nudes are allowed in galleries but not on Facebook

In a world where social media screens for nudity, it’s remarkable that one of the few places we can look freely at the naked body in public is the art gallery, says Jill Burke from the University of Edinburgh, as ‘The Renaissance Nude’ opens at the RA.
View of the exhibition, Phyllida Barlow RA cul-de-sac

RA Exhibitions

17 days ago

Four things to know about Phyllida Barlow’s sculpture

As the Academician’s site-specific show opens at the RA, Jon Wood explains what we gain from the pleasures and perplexities of her works.

RA Exhibitions

17 days ago

What would Michelangelo make of Bill Viola?

With the work of contemporary artist Bill Viola on show alongside works by Michelangelo, the exhibition’s co-curator imagines what the Renaissance master might have had to say about it, in a fictional letter to his nephew…

Alan Davie RA, Romance for Moon and Stars

RA Recommends

20 days ago

10 art exhibitions to see in March

Planning a fresh start for Spring? Check out this month’s pick of exhibitions across the UK – the idea of firsts is a recurring theme.

RA Exhibitions

2 months ago

“There’s more than just the surface of life… the real thing is underneath” – Bill Viola

For video artist Bill Viola, water is a powerful and recurring theme, and one that’s central to our landmark exhibition, ‘Bill Viola / Michelangelo: Life, Death, Rebirth’. In this interview, the artist traces this back to a formative incident in his childhood.
Banksy's 'Vote to Love' in the 250th Summer Exhibition

Artists

3 months ago

The great art quiz of 2018

Well, it’s been quite a year, hasn’t it? Let’s hope you’ve found time to keep up with something that makes it all worthwhile… Take the quiz and find out how much creativity and culture you’ve kept in your life this year.

Inside the Academy

3 months ago

10 highlights of our 250th year

2018 was a big year for the RA. We turned 250, united our two buildings on Piccadilly and Burlington Gardens, and held the most provocative Summer Exhibition yet. Oh, and did we mention The Duchess of Sussex dropped by?

RA Exhibitions

3 months ago

A beginner’s guide to Bill Viola

Bill Viola is considered one of the most important artists of his generation. As the RA prepares to show his vast, immersive installations alongside works by Michelangelo, it’s time to brush up on your knowledge of this American video art pioneer.
Family how-to: make a Christmas cookie cutter print- header large

Artists

3 months ago

Family how-to: make a Christmas cookie cutter print

Why not put your stamp on the festive season with our cookie cutter Christmas prints and Funky Foam reliefs?

Pocketpark. On the building blocks of a truly lovable and liveable city.

Opinion

3 months ago

What are the building blocks of a liveable (and loveable) city?

As part of RA Architecture Studio’s Invisible Landscapes series, urbanist Rachel Fisher weighs up the myriad ways that social technology can help us build human-centred cities.
Taking a moment to appreciate Hercules, one of the traditional teaching casts, in The Julia and Hans Rausing Hall

Inside the Academy

3 months ago

From dawn to dusk at the New RA

With new spaces to encounter art – and places to eat or drink in between – you can easily spend a whole day at the Academy. RA Magazine sent its new deputy editor Sarah Handelman to discover how to do it well

Bill Viola, Nantes Triptych

RA Exhibitions

3 months ago

Bill Viola / Michelangelo: scenes from the extremities of life

We asked four writers to respond to key themes in ‘Bill Viola / Michelangelo’. On the subject of birth, art historian Ingrid Rowland reveals how both artists confront the particular and the universal in the cycle of life.
Michelangelo Buonarroti, The Risen Christ (detail)

RA Exhibitions

3 months ago

Bill Viola / Michelangelo: finding the language of emotion

We asked four writers to respond to key themes in ‘Bill Viola / Michelangelo’. On the subject of emotional states, novelist Deborah Levy asks what it means to surrender to our most intense and incoherent feelings.
Bill Viola, Man Searching for Immortality/Woman Searching for Eternity

RA Exhibitions

3 months ago

Bill Viola / Michelangelo: art as a search for meaning

We asked four writers to respond to key themes in ‘Bill Viola / Michelangelo’. On the subject of mortality, the former bishop Richard Holloway writes that art and religion are driven onwards by the fact of our death.
Michelangelo Buonarroti, Archers Shooting at a Herm (detail)

RA Exhibitions

3 months ago

Bill Viola / Michelangelo: expressing the inexpressible

We asked four writers to respond to key themes in ‘Bill Viola / Michelangelo’. On the subject of transcendence, poet and novelist Ben Okri argues that art’s power lies where understanding leaves off, beyond thought and word.
Athi-Patra Ruga, Night of the Long Knives I

RA Recommends

4 months ago

10 art exhibitions to see in December

‘Tis the season to be creative and cultured! From deep neural networks to bronze-cast peanut butter on toast, these are our selections of what to see over the festive period…
John Pule, in front of 'Kehe tau hauaga foou - To All New Arrivals', 2007, in the Memory and Commemoration room in the Oceania exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 29 September – 10 December 2018

RA Exhibitions

4 months ago

Artists of Oceania: John Pule

Artist John Pule, who is from Niue and New Zealand, introduces his five-panel painting ‘Kehe tau hauaga foou (To all new arrivals)’ in our Oceania exhibition.

Barbara Rae RA in her studio in Edinburgh

Artists

4 months ago

“The sunsets were other-worldly” – artist Barbara Rae RA on her Arctic journeys

RA Magazine’s Sarah Handelman meets Barbara Rae RA in her studio in Edinburgh ahead of her exhibition ‘Barbara Rae: The Northwest Passage’.

In Pursuit of Venus (infected), 2015-17, by Lisa Reihana in the Oceania exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 29 September – 10 December 2018

RA Exhibitions

4 months ago

Artists of Oceania: Lisa Reihana in conversation

With her panoramic video installation currently on show in our Oceania exhibition, watch acclaimed New Zealand artist Lisa Reihana discuss her practice with the RA’s Artistic Director Tim Marlow.
Installation view of the Voyaging and Navigation room in the Oceania exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London

RA Exhibitions

4 months ago

Video: Learn about this spectacular headdress in Oceania

This huge feather headdress from Papua New Guinea is 100 years old and has rarely been shown in public due to its delicate nature.

Gallery view of the 'Klimt / Schiele: Drawings from the Albertina Museum, Vienna' exhibition

RA Exhibitions

4 months ago

Video: Egon Schiele in 60 seconds

Tim Marlow gives a quick introduction to Egon Schiele, whose extraordinary works on paper are on show in our exhibition ‘Klimt / Schiele’.

Mata Aho Collective in 'Oceania' at the Royal Academy of Arts, London

RA Exhibitions

4 months ago

Artists of Oceania: Mata Aho Collective

New Zealand’s Mata Aho Collective introduce their spectacular 11-metre installation ‘Kiko Moana’, which hangs in the opening room of our Oceania exhibition.


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