WHAT? Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2025
WHERE? Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD
WHEN? Now until 17th August
WHY GO? To engage with art. Look up, look down, look all around, the 2025 RA Summer Exhibition is epic and definitely poses the question, “What is art today?” Is it a gilded rat, a textile carcass, or an Antarctic life jacket?
It’s all of that and more. This year’s beloved summer art show’s theme, Dialogues, is coordinated by an architect, Farshid Moussavi, and for the first time architectural exhibits are integrated amongst artworks offering exciting unexpected surprises.
The overall effect creates an intoxicating exhibition for art lovers with eclectic tastes.
Even children chip in with quirky questions inscribed on huge inflatable balls by conceptual artist Ryan Gander. This playful ‘dialogue’ between absurdity, imagination and art greets visitors in the courtyard and upon entering the exhibition.
It’s a roller coaster of contemporary art from famous names like Grayson Perry and Tracey Emin, whose monumental painting The Crucifixion is an emotional show-stopper, to amateur artists who are thrilled to display their work alongside such luminaries.
In the words of the coordinator, Moussavi, “Art has the capacity to invite reflection, empathy and exchange”, and this year’s community of artists from all corners of the globe achieve that goal with gusto!

IN THE KNOW What is the Summer Exhibition all about? An online archive of 250 years, The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition – A Chronicle, 1769–2018 reveals all.
This fascinating timeline majors on notable RA artists with anecdotes such as Stanley Spencer's cheeky declaration in 1935, “I do not approve of the Academy, but I thought the best way to change it was to join it”!
Delve deep into who, why and when artists joined, online at the RA.