Articles
Sculpture
Artists
> 1 year ago
Nature and myth in art
Author, classicist and comedian, Natalie Haynes, explores the theme of nature in classical mythology, from Bernini and Giambattista Tiepolo, to John William Waterhouse RA.
RA Exhibitions
2 years ago
In 60 seconds: Lisa Wright’s ‘Porcelain Gaze’
From Thetford forest to the Medici Venus, unmask the influences behind the work of painter and sculptor, Lisa Wright.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Revisiting the exhibition: Antony Gormley
Six tonnes of steel mesh, a gallery flooded with seawater, a body you could walk through and an experience like no other. Relive our 2019 Antony Gormley exhibition with behind-the-scenes videos, inspiration from the man himself and works from the show.
Artists
< 3 years ago
Video: John Maine RA on the impact of coronavirus on his new sculpture, ‘Turning Point’
In this video from our ‘Artists in Isolation’ series, John Maine RA talks us through the process of making a huge, stone sculpture for Salisbury town centre – and what happens when lockdown lands in the middle of it.
Our Collection
> 3 years ago
Artists Cathie Pilkington and Alison Wilding on ‘The Ancestors’
Fiona Maddocks meets the former teacher and pupil duo about their co-curated project on their Academy forebears.
RA Exhibitions
> 3 years ago
Antony Gormley: 10 works to know
From chewing his way through 600 loaves of bread to making the world’s largest angel, Antony Gormley has never been afraid to pull out all the stops in the name of art. As we prepare for his biggest UK exhibition in over a decade, here are 10 works you need to know from across his career.
RA Exhibitions
> 3 years ago
Thomas Houseago: Summer Exhibition 2019
“There’s an experience that art can offer which is this strange combination of activating the eyes, the mind, the body and a kind of emotional spectrum.”
Artists
< 4 years ago
Family how-to: make a recycled sculpture
Be inspired by the work of Phyllida Barlow RA and create a sustainable sculpture from reusable household rubbish. Build it, play around with decoration and then recycle the parts.
RA Exhibitions
< 4 years 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.
Inside the Academy
5 years ago
RA250 stories: putting Hercules back together again
How do you take decades of dirt off a sculpture without damaging its original surface, or reassemble and attach missing parts of a historic statue? Find out in the latest edition of our behind-the-scenes video series, revealing our preparations for unveiling of The New RA.
RA Exhibitions
5 years ago
Strike a pose: 250 years of life drawing at the RA
As our ‘From Life’ exhibition explores the past, present and future of representing bodies in art, we look back at the Royal Academy’s 250-year tradition of drawing nude models.
Our Collection
5 years ago
Top picks from the Collection: Tom Kerridge
Top chef Tom Kerridge has a longstanding love of art; his wife is a sculptor and he was a good friend of the late Sir Anthony Caro. Against the bustling backdrop of his two Michelin-starred pub, he tells us about some favourite works in the RA Collection – starting with the gruesome tale of James Legg, a 19th-century murderer whose corpse was skinned, crucified and cast in plaster as a teaching aid for the RA Schools.
RA Exhibitions
5 years ago
360 video: how Jonathan Yeo turned virtual reality into bronze
As part of our From Life exhibition project, painter Jonathan Yeo has been depicting his own body in virtual reality. In this 360 degree video, explore his studio as he creates a virtual self-portrait to be 3D-printed as a sculpture.
RA Exhibitions
5 years ago
“It’s a trick on consciousness” – Antony Gormley on virtual reality
To celebrate our From Life exhibition, filmmakers followed artists and architects including Antony Gormley, Farshid Moussavi, Yinka Shonibare and Humphrey Ocean as they experimented with virtual reality in their practices. Watch five clips from the documentary here.
Our Collection
> 5 years ago
How to read it: Thomas Banks RA’s The Falling Titan
The Falling Titan depicts the doomed attempt of an earthbound giant to reach Olympus and overthrow Zeus by climbing up a pile of great boulders, only to be crushed by those very stones.
RA Exhibitions
> 5 years ago
Jasper Johns: 10 works to know
Over the past six decades, Jasper Johns’s paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints have left an indelible mark on art. With the RA showing a major survey of his practice to date, here’s a closer look at ten of his key works.
Our Collection
> 5 years ago
How to read it: Bill Woodrow RA’s Fingerswarm
Bill Woodrow RA’s Fingerswarm is part of a new display of sculpture curated by Richard Deacon RA. Woodrow held a swarm of bees on his bare hand at a beekeeping course, sparking the idea for this surreal sculpture.
Artists
> 5 years ago
Richard Deacon: “Don’t depend on other people’s affirmation”
Turner Prize-winning artist Richard Deacon RA talks obsessive collecting, ambiguous titles and finding the interest in everything.
RA Recommends
< 6 years ago
The RA’s Michelangelo Tondo takes centre stage at the National Gallery
It may be only a short step from the RA to the National Gallery, but the loan of the Academy’s rarest treasure to the Michelangelo and Sebastiano show is a triumph of technical skill.
RA Exhibitions
< 6 years ago
The studios behind the Summer Exhibition
How are the capital’s artists using their working spaces today? In the spirit of this year’s Summer Exhibition, which is encouraging artists who have not shown before at the RA, Skye Sherwin visits first-time exhibitors at work to see what they are bringing to the Academy.
Artists
< 6 years ago
Podcast: Maggi Hambling in conversation with Tim Marlow
Painter and sculptor Maggi Hambling discusses her work with the RA’s Artistic Director, Tim Marlow.
Artists
< 6 years ago
Michael Craig-Martin RA’s ‘Bright Idea’ in Hong Kong
The Royal Academician’s lightbulb sculpture goes on show at The Peninsula Hotel.
RA Exhibitions
< 6 years ago
Degas, dolls and life drawing: Cathie Pilkington in the RA Schools
Cathie Pilkington RA is transforming the RA Schools’ life drawing room with an installation of uncanny figures inspired by Degas’ sculptures. Amy Sherlock finds out more about the project.
Artists
< 6 years ago
Tony Cragg: “sculpture is a vital sign”
How do you make work indoors that’s destined for a life outdoors? With the opening of his exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, the artist discusses the realities of making art surrounded by rats, sunshine and Henry Moore.
RA Recommends
6 years ago
Five art shows to see this week: Tate Modern, IKON and more
From a taxidermy goat in a car tyre to controversial feminist installations, here’s the best art to see this week.
Artists
> 6 years ago
How I made it: Ruins by Eva Rothschild RA
“There’s a loss of confidence in structures that we thought we could rely on, a sense of order that’s crumbling” – Eva Rothschild RA on the ideas and production behind her recent installation, Ruins.
RA Recommends
> 6 years ago
Five art shows to see this week: BALTIC, Jewish Museum and more
From overlooked ceramicists to the untold stories of artists’ assistants, we unearth the best art to see this week.
Artists
> 6 years ago
Antony Gormley: “We need art more than ever”
In our new series, artists reflect on art, life and lessons learnt. Here, Antony Gormley RA explains how he first found his subject, why the arts are vital in education and why he’s ashamed of Brexit.
Our Collection
> 6 years ago
How to read it: John Gibson’s Cupid and Psyche
Take a closer look at how one of Britain’s most celebrated 19th-century sculptors tackled an ancient Roman tale in marble.
RA Exhibitions
> 6 years ago
After the deluge: Artist Aono Fumiaki on art as restoration
In this video, artist Aono Fumiaki talks about his work born out of the wreckage of Japan’s 2011 tsunami, on show in this year’s Summer Exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
> 6 years ago
Video: Zatorski + Zatorski’s skeletal self-portrait
Artist duo Zatorski + Zatorski discuss their unusual self-portrait created from carbonised human skeletons.
Artists
< 7 years ago
In the studio with Ron Arad RA
There is barely a straight line to be found in the north London studios of artist, designer and architect Ron Arad RA. Fiona Maddocks meets the maverick whose life and art is always on the move.
Artists
< 7 years ago
Sex, death and sculpture: Cathie Pilkington’s Top Shelf
The Royal Academician talks about the “Baccahanalian excess” of her sculptural installation Top Shelf, currently on display above the bar in the Academicians’ Room at the RA.
Artists
> 7 years ago
10 minutes with… Phyllida Barlow RA
As she turns her focus to a group of small sculptures, Phyllida Barlow tells us what music inspires her and why she loves Picasso.
Opinion
> 7 years ago
Ai Weiwei at Helsinki Art Museum
RA Magazine’s Gill Crabbe pays a visit to Ai Weiwei’s new wood-themed exhibition in Helsinki.
RA Exhibitions
< 8 years ago
Video: the making of Conrad Shawcross’s courtyard installation
Take a look behind the scenes at the making of ‘The Dappled Light of the Sun’.
Artists
< 8 years ago
Alison Wilding RA: why sculptors make works on paper
“I don’t think my work on paper has remotely anything to do with the kind of sculpture I make, and I think that’s why I do it - because it’s an opportunity to go down a different route,” says Alison Wilding RA.
Artists
< 8 years ago
Bryan Kneale RA at Pangolin London
An exhibition of five decades of Bryan Kneale’s sculpture and works on paper gives the Academician a chance to see his work afresh.
Artists
< 8 years ago
Remembering Robert Clatworthy
A key figure in a group of sculptors who emerged in the 1950s, we look back on the career of Robert Clatworthy, who has passed away aged 87.
Artists
< 8 years ago
Richard Wilson’s ‘Hang On A Minute…’ travels to Hong Kong
The Royal Academician’s sculpture inspired by ‘The Italian Job’ goes on show at The Peninsula Hotel.
Artists
8 years ago
Remembering Ivor Abrahams RA
Past President of the RA Phillip King pays tribute to his friend and colleague Ivor Abrahams RA, who has died aged 79.
Artists
> 8 years ago
A tribute to Geoffrey Clarke RA
A fellow Academician pays tribute to the celebrated sculptor, who has passed away aged 89
Artists
> 8 years ago
Interview: William Tucker RA
As a new exhibition of his work opens in London, the US-based Academician reflects on an artistic discovery that moulded his approach to sculpture.
Artists
> 8 years ago
Tracey Emin RA: “It’s like being at art school again”
The Royal Academician describes tackling the medium of bronze as her major new exhibition opens in London.
Opinion
> 8 years ago
‘Beyond Limits’ at Chatsworth House
Academicians from Antony Gormley to Bill Woodrow are on display in Sotheby’s annual sculpture show at Chatsworth House.
Artists
> 8 years ago
Behind the scenes: Anselm Kiefer’s studio at Barjac
In the lead-up to his major RA exhibition this autumn, we take a look inside the artist’s huge “gesamtkunstwerk” in the south of France.
RA Exhibitions
> 8 years ago
Carlos Cruz-Diez in conversation
The legendary Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz-Diez discusses his experiments with colour and movement, and how he engages viewers with his art.
Opinion
> 8 years ago
Think pink: Franz West at The Hepworth Wakefield
The multiple meanings of West’s witty sculptures are unravelled at The Hepworth Wakefield this summer.
RA Exhibitions
> 8 years ago
Modern Art of South America comes to the RA
How does an art movement travel to a new continent? As the RA’s ‘Radical Geometry’ opens, Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro maps the cultural and political changes that were crucial to the development of abstraction in South America.
RA Exhibitions
< 9 years ago
Lynn Chadwick sculptures go on display
A group of sculptures by Lynn Chadwick RA (1914 - 2003) has been installed in the Royal Academy’s Annenberg Courtyard, as part of celebrations to make the centenary of his birth.
Artists
< 9 years ago
The beasts are coming
A group of sculptures by Lynn Chadwick RA (1914 - 2003) is being installed in the Royal Academy’s Annenberg Courtyard, as part of celebrations to make the centenary of his birth.
Artists
< 9 years ago
Phyllida Barlow at Tate Britain
Phyllida Barlow RA has unleashed seven playful giants into Tate Britain’s Duveen Galleries.
Artists
9 years ago
His dark materials
War, terror and human conflict pervade the art of new RA sculptor Tim Shaw, whose first major solo show opens in Birmingham.