‘Royal Academy who?’ Rejects rejoice at getting own show

The Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts (RA) in London—held annually since 1769—is as British as strawberries and Pimm’s at Wimbledon. But what happens to all the works rejected by the exhibition’s revolving cast of coordinators, such as Alison Wilding and Grayson Perry? The bright sparks at Art Friend, described online as “not your standard art gallery”, decided over the summer to showcase “the best of a new generation of rejects”, organising a celebration of the best art submitted and rejected by the RA. The Rejects show in Bermondsey, south London, included 40 works by 29 artists, which were all for sale. “I kept seeing people posting their beautiful art on Instagram saying that they had been rejected by the Royal Academy. I saw so much effort and disappointment, so decided ‘scrap this’, let’s do our own show! Royal Academy who?” the Art Friend founder Shona Bland told the website To Do List. The walk of shame show will now be an annual event.