Exhibition of the week Summer Exhibition 2017

Royal Academy, London W1 (020-7300 8000, www.royalacademy.org.uk). Until 20 August

The Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition is an “evergreen, dependable, and much-loved” institution, said Alastair Sooke in The Daily Telegraph. It has been held at the RA every year since 1769, and claims to be “the world’s largest open submission exhibition”; works of art from members of the public hang side by side with household names. It offers “reassurance” – and this year’s instalment, coordinated by RA Keeper Eileen Cooper, is a particularly predictable showing. The exhibition features work by more than 1,200 artists, from cutting-edge newcomers to figures who would normally be considered old hat by modern curators. There are many “strong individual works”: a sculptural installation from official election artist Cornelia Parker, consisting of two silver-plated jugs apparently floating in the air, and a “Wyndham Lewis-like” oil painting by Vanessa Jackson, stand out. But there are many “stinkers” too. Overall, it feels “formulaic” and “insufficiently pepped up with big, bold new ideas”. Sadly, this is “not a vintage year”.

The show seems more “haphazard” than ever, said Ben Luke in the London Evening Standard. But “the trick is to search out the gems”. The abstract works on show are particularly strong this year. Cooper has invited other artists to oversee individual galleries, and a room of prints chosen by artist Rebecca Salter includes a wall of non-figurative works that is both “a balm for the eyes” and “a boon for the soul”. Similarly impressive are a “monumental, wallfilling” abstract painting by Sean Scully, and a “quietly riotous” sculpture by Phyllida Barlow. Elsewhere, Isaac Julien’s “powerful, moving” video installation chronicling the plight of refugees crossing the Mediterranean is, “tragically”, just as timely as it was when it was made in 2007. True, there is much to admire, said Rachel Campbell-johnston in The Times. The best works are to be found on the RA’S staircase, where contributions from Gilbert & George, Anish Kapoor and Julian Schnabel hang alongside two “enigmatically beautiful” oil paintings by Lynette Yiadom-boakye. The sheer range creates an “all but fantastical sense of disparity”. Nevertheless, the exhibition is largely disappointing. A case in point is the fibreglass and fabric sculpture by Nigerian-british artist Yinka Shonibare that greets you as you enter the RA’S courtyard. It feels “shrunken and insignificant” against the building’s facade, flapping away “like a handkerchief signal of distress”. Ultimately, this Summer Exhibition “has all the atmosphere of an exhaled sigh”.