257th Royal Academy Summer Exhibition: The standout artists you need to know

This year’s Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy focuses on fostering dialogue between contemporary established and budding artists in an attempt to create a visual journey reflective of our times. Co-ordinated for the first time by an architect, Frashid Moussavi RA, each piece of art and architecture seems to address one another in their own unique way. The result is an exhibition that strips away the pomp of the art world, presenting the RA, not as an intimidating, exclusive establishment but as a fun, exciting, and welcoming space.

By responding to the unprecedented times we live in and by addressing everything from the anthropocean to the socio-political state of the world, this exhibition allows the audience to contemplate the realities of today’s world. It invites the audience to come together and explore the vision of contemporary artists. 

Let’s dive into the artists that caught our attention with their work and understand their presence in today’s art market, further demystifying the art industry:

Sir Isaac Julien CBE RA- Diasporic Dream Space (2022)

This inkjet print is accurately titled as a dream space. It focuses on two men who are standing - in separate frames, wearing tuxedos on a snowy street, with their eyes lightly shut. The sequence feels like it was captured at the end of a movie and accurately brings to the forefront the expertise of this blue-chip, British filmmaker whose photographic works parallel his acclaimed video installations (e.g., MoMA, Tate). Julien’s large-scale work is mesmerising and it is easy to believe that there is a resilient auction demand for comparable works of this scale, with several of his earlier works being pre-sold to institutional collections.

There is a scarce supply of Julien’s works and with a potential pavilion by the artist at the 2026 Venice Biennale - a current rumour- there is a likelihood that his next release would be evaluated in a much higher bracket.

Sir Michael Craig-Martin CBE RA - Quotidian Red: Moka Pot (2024)

Most collectors at the Summer Exhibition will be on the lookout for works by Craig-Martin because his flat, conceptual, high-saturation object paintings have remained staples of UK and US art collections. The works in this exhibition are all similar to each other, they feature a main object, which in this case is the white outline of a moka pot, on a bright red satin, laser-etched acrylic panel affixed to perspex. While these materials are hard to visualize they make it easier to understand the luminescent quality of Craig-Martin’s work. 

His works are generally considered to have a high liquidity with over 50 lots hitting the global auction market annually with a 90% sell-through rate. High liquidity means quick cash, which definitely corresponds also to a higher demand especially for works with strong colours.

The artist is represented by the Cristea Roberts Gallery and in 2024, they hosted a retrospective of his print and multiple works from 1996 - 2004. Continued representation at galleries and museums in London allows Craig-Martin’s work to be one of the most established artists at this exhibition. 

Antonio Tarsis - suspended matchbox assemblage 

Tarsis’ breath-taking suspended backdrop of matchboxes is the result of an invitation from the RA to create a piece of work for the Lecture Room. The matchboxes are all all sourced from the artists’ hometown, Salvador in Brazil and have been deconstructed to create an assemblage, replete with tea trade symbols, that represent colonial history and violence. The self- taught artist relies on everyday material, referencing the period of scarcity that he experienced in his own life. 

His work rose to prominence after being showcased in the 2024 São Paulo Biennial and even though the demand for his work is limited to Latin-America and Europe at the moment, he is on the cusp of international recognition. The artist’s work is extremely detailed and labour-intensive and it offers a moment of quiet contemplation in this exhibition as the viewer works through the many references to histories of racial oppression interwoven throughout the work. 

Marice Cumber - The Vessel of my Family 

While this specific ceramic work is not for sale, Cumber’s work definitely deserves its place on this list and in this exhibition. If ceramics and small sculptural works that can be exhibited through a home are on the viewer’s radar, she has a significant collection of handbuilt stoneware that has been decorated with slips and underglaze. What is particularly arresting about this work are the bold colours she uses to draw the timeline for a few named women, such as Shea Goldstein and Sarah. Once the viewer is introduced to the women, for example with Esther Szyk (Simmons), she writes “Esther married Nathan in 1916. He was a hat machinist. Esther took her own life”. She brings these lived experiences to her works, alongside her own suffering with mental health that for 30 years, denied her the ability to pursue any creative practice. 

This work is essential in reminding the audience of not just the monetary value of an artist's works but the ability for art to facilitate social conversations and serve as a means of communication between us. It stresses on the importance of art within our society. 

David Phillips - The Fading Light 

This work contains many, tiny works put together in one frame and if you look closely, they are almost reminiscent of William Blake’s illustrations from Songs of Innocence and Experience (1794). Phillips’ landscape-inflected abstraction in acrylic on board has been sold at regional UK galleries with list prices from 2- 4 thousand pounds. His strong local collector base allows him to preserve both continued interest and uniqueness in the field. 

There are so many interesting works at this exhibition that our recommendation is to focus on a few that catch your eye and make you curious. A few other artists that would be in our top picks are Gavin Dobson, Lottie Davies, Andreas Ruethi- Field, Suzanne Moxhay, Joseph Goody and Arinjoy Sen.