A-Level Summer Exhibition Online 2015
Beings of the world, unite!
8 June - 16 August 2015
Online
Free
Selected from over 2,000 submissions, the A-level Summer Exhibition Online is a showcase of Britain's best young artistic talent.
This year, 1,200 aspiring artists attending sixth form colleges or schools, submitted their work to the A-level Summer Exhibition Online 2015. Take a look at this exhibition of 38 exceptional works of art, selected by our expert panel: Andrea Tarsia (Head of RA Exhibitions), RA Schools student Maria de Lima, and artist Lisa Milroy.
Having your work chosen to appear in the A-level Summer Exhibition Online is a great achievement for young artists in the UK. Many of these students will go on to develop their talents at art school and in their careers. Students from all over the UK enter their works and the exhibition showcases a rich variety of styles and media: from drawing and video to sculpture and prints, painting and photography.
Held to coincide with the world’s largest open entry exhibition, the Summer Exhibition, this online equivalent for artists aged 16–18 signals an exciting future for art in this country. Be among the first to discover it now.
Free
Zone One
Immanuel,
Sevenoaks School
The core idea behind my creations is Self and how it can be discovered, identified and explored. I explored aspects leading to the formation of an individual's identity with portraiture, focusing on raw emotion through texture, aided by the study of Nick Ward. My aim is to portray the charisma and identity of my friend through the medium of oil, by focusing on his distinctive facial features, particularly his eyes
Giant Vending Machine,
The Tiffin Girls' School
I stumbled across this vending machine in a metro station in Barcelona. I had never seen a vending machine so big. I interpreted it as showing the essence of a city
Marbles,
The Frances Bardsley Academy
I explore textures using acrylics, first taking a picture of four marbles, then added textures and colours on Photoshop. I then painted the marbles and background, the latter is inspired by abstract paintings I studied. I love the simple yet dynamic shapes and colours of such abstract paintings that I think compliment the marbles well. I applied thick wall paint before painting on the background and marbles to create a textural surface. The strokes and bumps can be seen and felt. I wanted to challenge myself by painting abstract shapes and highly vibrant colours I only thought were possible on Photoshop
A living Tree,
Dame Alice Owen's School
This piece is a result from combining my interest in architecture and sculpture. I wanted to create a piece whose interior is just as important as the exterior by inviting the observer to walk around and discover inside the 'tree' where the 'living' space is
Life Study in Pink,
New College Swindon
In a life drawing session, I experimented with a limited colour palette
Stitch,
New Hall School
In this self-portrait I tried to capture a miniature of myself, sewing a shirt with a large needle. I think that I often take on tasks which are a lot more difficult than they seem at first. Similarly, using a 'needle', they can hurt quite badly if I don't pay close attention to them. Nevertheless, I know that the final result will be worth it
Tide Table,
Charterhouse
Set in West Wittering, I decided to explore the idea of discordance as seen in Milton Becerra's work. To study the concept of discordant relationships between the manmade and natural world, I decided to take a bedside table, something found in everyone's home and place it in an unlikely environment - the beach. The photo that depicts this work shows the aftermath of the power of nature's tide
Tutu,
Cobham Hall School
"Fashion is an expression of the times. Elegance is something else again" (Hannah Gregory). I was inspired by Horst P. Horst (1906-99), Round the Clock
Duel,
Charterhouse
This piece is about how we look at ourselves. The woman is unknown to us, but she is looking at herself, a person she knows very well. She is engrossed in her phone which has engulfed her surroundings and environment
Leaving,
Sussex Downs College Lewes Campus
I used a pinhole camera technique to project a view from outside my bedroom window on to my back wall only using the power of light. I took this the day I moved house therefore on the floor, boxes are piled high. I saw this view every morning I woke up and I wanted to give it one last impact on me so I would never forget it once I left. I turned the inevitable change that can happen to us all, into a surreal beautiful scene using the bare minimum; a thick blanket with a 3cm diameter hole in, a blank wall and a long exposure of 3"
Black and White Self-portrait,
The American School in London
I always found the idea of a self-portrait quite interesting. Painting a self-portrait reminded me that it was a painting for myself. I was also intrigued with the idea of oil bars. I had a lot of fun using oil paint in a stick. I felt as though it allowed me to be more aggressive when starting the painting, and still be able to add a few details with a brush at the end
Throwing Ice,
Fine Arts College
One afternoon me and my sister were breaking ice off the edges of the pond near where I live. When it hit the solid but uneven surface, it made an extraordinary and very beautiful noise. After the ice is broken, the separate pieces make a rippling sound as they make their way over the surface. The different sizes of the pieces of ice each create a sound in a different key, so the result is like listening to hundreds of little bells ringing. The painting is a commemoration of this midwinter discovery
Zone Two
Blank,
The Thomas Hardye School
My piece is a melancholic observation of the thin film that is memory, I can think of nothing worse than to lose the ability to rationalise. Dementia is a disease which destroys memory and gradually decreases your ability to think. My choice of material, cling film, reflects this superficiality through its translucent visible properties. The webbed shape clings to the surroundings, mirroring the synaptic network in the brain which composes our personality, memories and what we might call a soul. I really like the way my chosen medium deteriorates over time, it lends itself to the constant presence of ephemerality
Beings of the World, Unite!,
Barton Peveril Sixth Form College
With the use of biomorphic forms, this piece seeks to convey the unilateral destruction of both man and nature by capitalism. By painting these pieces of felled trees with colours reminiscent of flesh, I am unifying man and nature in an act of revolution against the reifying, objectifying and commodifying economic system of capitalism
Roaming,
Charterhouse
These two sculptures interact as a pair evoking roaming animals or beasts. Starting from the organic form of dried vegetables, I geometricized them so that only their essence remained. The coatings of plaster, beeswax, ink and gesso perhaps evoke the idea of a solid and sturdy form like a rock. However, when raised on long spindly legs, they become roaming beasts that interact with each other, but more importantly, also with the viewers
Monoprints Part II,
Charterhouse
Much like Monoprints part I, I was inspired by the works of Kazimir Malevich and his black square when creating my prints. I decided to make a series of mono prints using primary colours and basic geometric shapes. Inspired by architects such as Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright, I also wanted these prints to have a touch of architecture about them
Deep in Secret Fear,
Varndean College
This piece is influenced by feelings and emotion. I connect feelings and emotion strongly with colour. I inserted the colours, which I connect with different emotions into certain sections of the piece. I like that no one knows what feelings the colours represent, but me. I like to create my experimental photography by hand as I like how you can see the mistakes I made; I feel this makes the piece more relatable. I took inspiration from Damien Blottiere's photography; I like the process and logic he uses to create his work
Transition,
St Helen and St Katharine
My inspirations for this triptych were Egon Schiele and his ability to capture the quality of human flesh. Alongside this I studied Marcel Duchamp's response to 'Woman Descending a Staircase' in order to gauge the importance of movement within a piece. I explored the dynamic nature of the human form whilst retaining a level of exposure and vulnerability through the figures being nude. Developing my use of paint I turned to Schiele's and Jenny Saville's work. Through them, I began to understand the complexity of the human form and the multitude of colours that combine together to form flesh and bone
Pablo Gonzalez,
Tolworth Girls School
I wanted to look at new ways to distort the faces to create an imperfection
Distortion,
Sussex Downs College Lewes Campus
This photograph was created in the process of completing my Final year of A Level Photography; the inspiration behind this idea was once again, Michal Macku. His use of Gellage Photography has influenced the way I have worked in this final unit and has encouraged me to experiment with various medium and ways of working. I am pleased with my digital and film outcomes
Pray for Ukraine,
Ashford School
Art is my lifestyle. This drawing means a lot to me, as I have put my personal feelings in there. I was inspired by my own experience and also by Pablo Picasso's Guernica; I am from Ukraine, Kiev. On 22 January 2014, my city lived through a horrible day and night. Our central square Maidan Nezalezhnosti was destroyed, 100 people died during this night. I remember my first feeling when I saw it. Screams and tears, fear and strength, everything was flying over the dead street. But a powerful spirit is still inside everyone
Camelot,
St Olave's Grammar School
In this piece I wanted to explore the idea of presence, absence and legacy. The Camelot era is a phase of American history elevated to divine status, and so I presented it among other mythical creatures and important people from history, for instance the Suffragettes
Scale,
Sevenoaks School
I wanted to showcase the enormous sense of scale of the landscape in North America and I chose to create an etching due to the high levels of contrast achievable. I worked from a picture I took just before sunset as to create bright highlights in the backgrounded and strong shadows in there foreground however the long sweeping shadows prevented harsh contrast in the middle ground which created a smooth transition throughout the landscape
The Hermitage,
Duff Miller
This is a painting of my favourite gallery in The Hermitage. As a child I spent a lot of time in this magnificent museum, and I have many memories associated with it
Prints of Africa,
Norbury Manor Business and Enterprise College for Girls
This self-portrait collage and screen print was inspired by Faith Ringgold's 1967 'Soul Sister' piece from her Black Light series. Ringgold was influenced by African art and mask life works, which formed my idea of collaging African prints to reflect the beauty and tonal ranges of black skin
Zone Three
?,
Newton Abbot College
I like to try and take photos that leave the viewer asking more questions than answering, for example, "what does this mans face look like" or "where is he and what is he doing?"
Levitate,
The Tiffin Girls' School
As a student who lives in central London I am exposed to various cultural environments and settings when out and about. Covent Garden is my chosen background and is a location that I like to visit frequently. The inspiration for my piece came from the Japanese photographer Natsumi Hayashi, as she explores superpowers, particularly levitation through her pieces. Her composition is achieved by changing the shutter speed and aperture on her DSLR camera, and asking her subjects to jump until the perfect moment has been captured. This is the technique that I used in making my primary school friend achieve her childhood dream of being able to fly
Headlights,
Woodroffe school
A page taken from Headlights, a graphic novel inspired by noir and neo-noir films such as Double Indemnity, D.O.A and Blade Runner. Also inspired by fifties comic book artist Alex Raymond
Jackie Kennedy,
The American School in London
This is part of a collection of pieces commenting on the representation of powerful women in the media, and how their appearance and femaleness is scrutinised more than their actual opinions, ideas and talents
Night at Prom,
Duff Miller
This is a photograph of my friends and me at Prom last year. That night a lot of my friends who already left school were there too. We were having a really fun time and while we were having fun someone took photograph of us without us knowing. The picture looks very natural, unlike when we know we are being photograph. I also got inspired by an artist named Njideka Akunyili Crosby so I thought of an idea to paint on top of this photograph
Faces (still),
Fine Arts College
Continuing to explore identity, the act of changing your persona, and becoming other people, I made this film. Having used the technique of décollage in 2D, I now wanted to try this on my own face, giving the subjects of the photographs new life.
Wrapped Man,
St. Paul's Way Trust School
After making a series of large textile pieces based around the idea of "conceal, protect and constrain", I wrapped my teacher to explore further how these textiles could be seen to both protective and constraining
Where the Books are Kept,
Sussex Downs College Lewes Campus
This photo was influenced by surreal conceptual photographers such as Kyle Thompson, who create images that depict split second moments of other realities
Island Lake,
Sevenoaks School
Through my travels to America and Canada, I was inspired by the extensive landscape and the large sense of scale, resulting in an interest for artists such as Albert Bierstadt and Bob Ross. I wanted to show the natural beauty of the landscape and create an overwhelming sense of perspective through the variation in detail between the foreground and the background. I decided to use vivid colours to heighten the drama of the sky contrasting with the peaceful lake, to reflect the constantly changing landscape whilst also appreciating the grandeur of the environment
Fish with Fish Fingers,
West Kirby Grammar School
The inspiration for my art work was the idea that attitudes to food, like it being healthy or unhealthy, change according to how it is prepared and served and from where it is bought. I chose the theme of fish because it is available to everyone and can be viewed as healthy when bought fresh or unhealthy when bought as a takeaway or in processed form. Further inspiration for my art work were the paintings of fish by the artist Andy Swani. I was interested in the way he paints the fish both in terms of technique and composition
Shops Typology : Manchester Northern Quarter,
The North Halifax Grammar School
This photo shows a very rustic style sandwich shop in Manchester's Northern Quarter. It is part of a larger documentary project where I created a survey of the local shops in different areas in order to present a message about the area. My most important critical influences when taking this photo and others in the project were John Londei's series Shutting Up Shop and Dave Allen's Photographic Grid Project. I really liked the idea of capturing a 'British' feel in my work like John Londei did and used the systematic approach found in the grid project to do this.
The Mood,
New Hall School
This painting was inspired by Paul Wright. The idea of this piece was to show how the weather can affect the mood of a person. I looked at different ways of how I can reflect the conditions of the weather through different painting techniques and effects, including the choice of colour palette and experimentation with tonality
Buckingham Palace (still),
The Thomas Hardye School
When I was younger I wondered how the Buckingham Palace guards managed to defend the palace when they weren't allowed to move. I created a cartoon animation that explains why the guards of Buckingham Palace, despite their adorable facade, can be deadly when you get up close. I'm inspired by Bird Box animation studios, who produce beautifully drawn and hilariously timed cartoon animations and put brilliant twist endings at the end of their short films.
Faces
Fine Arts College Continuing to explore identity, the act of changing your persona, and becoming other people, I made this film. Having used the technique of décollage in 2D, I now wanted to try this on my own face, giving the subjects of the photographs new life.
Buckingham Palace
The Thomas Hardye School When I was younger I wondered how the Buckingham Palace guards managed to defend the palace when they weren't allowed to move. I created a cartoon animation that explains why the guards of Buckingham Palace, despite their adorable facade, can be deadly when you get up close. I'm inspired by Bird Box animation studios, who produce beautifully drawn and hilariously timed cartoon animations and put brilliant twist endings at the end of their short films.