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A-Level Summer Exhibition Online 2016
Playlist
13 June - 21 August 2016
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, 1,400 aspiring artists attending sixth form colleges or schools, submitted their work to the A-level Summer Exhibition Online 2016. Take a look at this exhibition of 46 exceptional works of art, selected by our expert panel: Royal Academician Bob and Roberta Smith, Head of Architecture Kate Goodwin, and RA Schools student Claire Undy.
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.
“The exhibition includes work that is thoughtful, almost psychedelic, poetic, elegiac, but also funny and romantic. We, the judges, loved looking at the breadth and skill of all the entries. Congratulations to all the young artists who submitted works to the A-Level Summer Exhibition Online. Good luck to all these students, and we hope to see you in Art school!” – Bob and Roberta Smith RA
Free
Girlfriend in a Coma
Harry,
John Leggott College
I am influenced by Ben Tom's work for Dazed and Confused and have also gathered a lot of inspiration from the Wes Anderson film Moonrise Kingdom for this image. The use of angle and composition that he uses in his films has greatly influenced my work. I am also inspired by Hick… Circle of life,
The Howard School
This image was created in the dark room, it took me a few attempts to get it perfect because I had to expose the photographic paper twice and move the objects around to achieve the desired effectEdmund,
King Edward's School, Witley
This piece is based upon gender and the ever growing culture of colours being designated to a person for their gender. Here I am tackling that social construct by influencing pink and blues to contrast the mood of how I truly feel as a personNostalgia,
The Tiffin Girls' School
I wanted to convey the warm and welcoming community that I experienced as a child through my interpretation of the town I grew up in. I chose colours that complimented each other giving a dreamy, nostalgic atmosphere and inspired by the artist, Gerhard Richter, I created a… Scrap bot (SCRAPPIE),
Southgate School
I Wanted to make a companion out of found scrap metal found in various placesDreaming,
Merchant Taylors School
I have always had very vivid dreams which I am extremely fascinated by. I decided to record them in sketch or note form every night. This painting is result of combining my best dreams (including skiing uphill, and exploring a lake in a mountainous desert) and my worst… The House at the End of the Street,
Varndean College
I took a bus out of town late at night to capture this photo. The only illumination was a streetlight and the passing cars. In reality it was a very dark setting, requiring an exposure time of around 35 seconds. I've just started trying to shoot night photography having been hugely… Starry Night No. 2,
The Tiffin Girls' School
This is a piece inspired by the colours used in Sarah Awad's work. I wanted to capture a very mundane scene, a park bench with a view over a park, in a surreal wayOn A Clear Day You Can See Yourself,
John Taylor High School
This piece, inspired in part by Renaissance portraiture, is a representation of my own personal ambitions. The title, in fact, is taken from an American self-help book I once saw on the internet, I've never read it, but it sounded kitsch and I liked the sentiment with respect to this… Sea,
Abbotsfield
For this photograph I was inspired by the storm arising over the sea in the distance. I also liked how there was only one boat which adds a particular mood to the image; a single boat taking on a storm almostParadise Lost (multicolour variation),
The Manchester Grammar School
This screen print was inspired by the epic poem, Paradise Lost by John Milton. I was enthralled by the brilliant imagery conveyed by Milton's words, and I was drawn into one quote in particular, "the mind is a place of its own, and can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven". I used… Childhood Memories,
William Morris Sixth Form
This painting is based on a theme "Childhood Memories". I had been inspired by Marc Chagall's colours used in some of his monochrome paintings, which I thought would link very well with my theme. I used different tones of blues to make the image look more dreamy to… Body and Soul, Music and Rhythm,
Queen's College
Working towards this piece I have explored youth, black identity, pop culture and decoration. I have fused all these elements together in order to create a surrealist portrait. In this painting it was my aim to convey a sense of inner mindfulness and movement. I hoped to achieve this… Ophelia,
Southgate School
Much like a lot of my other work, I was highly influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite era and the paintings by John Everett Millais. I wanted to re-capture and create a modern version of Millais's Ophelia. Gregory Crewdson also helped to form my idea for this modern Ophelia with his…
Revolution 9
Cubed Fruit,
Bedford College
I got my idea for this art piece from the well known modified watermelons sold in Japanese supermarkets, so I decided to paint a different range of fruitsUntitled ,
Bedford College
This is a painting of my boyfriend using a dotted, smudged effect in acrylic paint. I was inspired by the artist Thomas Saliot who uses this type of effect to paint inUrban Metropolis,
The Holt School
I explored the contrasts in architecture for my A2 art personal investigation. I explored a range of contrasts and my project started to focus on contrasting materials and textures in architecture. My final piece is a sculpture which highlights architectural contrasts. The height… Bitter Sweet,
Guernsey Grammar School and Sixth Form Centre
Bitter Sweet was originally inspired by movement. I wanted to explore how a still object could have motion added to it. I covered my model in 10 cans of treacle and photographed him. The way that the treacle ran and oozed over the model gave him an extra element of movement.… Frankenfruit,
St Benedict's School
This piece was influenced by Marc Quinn's Eternal Spring pieces. His concept of preserving natures flowers in an unnatural way inspired me to do the same with fruit and vegetables. However in my piece, instead of preserving them in their natural state as Quinn does, I peeled, bit… Brunswick Centre,
Beaminster School
During the exam, I had explored the different architecture styles in London. I was coming across the Brutalist architecture in Brunswick Centre, to experiment with line and pattern, then exaggerated the gray which often found in this architecture style. As well as to… Zika Portrait,
Shoreham Academy
Layered Paper cut out's in a bright and bold colours to make the portrait vibrant. Includes reference to Brazil in patterns with their nation's flower emblem, and native birds and shapes from the flag. My inspiration was cultural, looking into the Zika virus and the impact it had on… White Sheets,
Charterhouse
This painting of my brother and mother lying in bed on a Sunday morning captures a moment of total serenity, yet it is also suggestive of incest, and portrays the ideas behind Freud's "Oedipal Complex"Collections and Identity,
Brighton Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College
This series is focussed on gathering and constructing collections, exploring personal possessions to form sculptural portraits, which represent the following relationships: Myself, Boyfriend, Family , and Friends. This piece aims to demonstrate identity and effectively communicate the… Witch of the West,
Bedford College
My first piece was a painting of the wicked witch of the west from the Wizard of Oz. I wanted to recreate a famous witch to showcase the typical features used to describe witches.The Wizard of Oz is an old story and the image of the witch is dated and stereotypicalLlivorem,
Woodford County High School
I wanted to explore a sense of self with his work. Clothes are a very important part of life, and to me are considered a freedom of expression and an art in itself. These stripes are my school shirt, clothes I wore everyday for 5 years, and something that will always be a memory to… My Lobster Lady,
Varndean College
I am mainly influenced by Jesse Treece, Beth Hoeckle and Eugenia Loli. All three feature women side profiles and figures. All the images used in my collage where found in vintage magazines. I tried to find images that were of a similar colour palette. I laid the yellow digger over the…
When the Sun Goes Down
Harry,
St Mary's Catholic High School
I think in art, mastering oil painting is the real challenge - which is why it's my favourite media to paint with. This portrait is of my brother with swollen features (i.e a black eye, cut lip, etc.). I painted this study from a photograph I took of my brother where I had used makeup to… Portrait of the Artist's Mother,
Liverpool Blue Coat School
In this painting she has a tired body and smile. I was inspired to paint this as I wanted to pay tribute to my mother. We look a lot alike, as well. It was stirring to realise how similar we are.… Portrait of the Artist,
Liverpool Blue Coat School
This is an introspective work. I had recently turned 17 and was lamenting the loss of time, how it seemed many doors were closing at once and I was quickly losing the opportunity to grasp my youth. I was kinda angry, really, just frustrated, at - retrospectively - nothing… Vigilant,
The Thomas Hardye School
This image was a part of my mental health based series, named Destructive. The influences behind this project was from personal expierences I have dealt with, and also from people around me who suffer from mental illnesses. With this image, I intended on… Fresh Meat,
Sawtry Village Academy
This painting was influenced by Francis Bacon and the Chapman Brothers. The fascination with brutality, which in turn reflects part of the very essence of the human conditionOne Child Policy,
The Sixth Form College Farnborough
My piece reflects the impact of the "One Child Policy" placed in China through my own perspective. I aimed to demonstrate how adoption (due to the policy) can leave you questioning your ethnicity and make you feel marginalised between two cultures as you are brought up in white… Humpty Drunkty,
Lady Margaret School
I imagined a new ending for the nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty". In my rendition, Humpty Dumpty "had a great fall" not only literally, but also figuratively, turning to alcohol in an attempt to forget his problems and falling off a building as a result. This piece is a dark parody of… Stripped,
John Leggott College
This photo was taken in an abandoned house in Haxey as part of my "Links and Connections" A Level Photography project. I wanted to explore the effect that passing time had on buildings that were no longer used. I also wanted to accentuate the fact that these buildings were once a… Lady Garden,
St Olave's Grammar School
In this piece I wanted to explore female sexuality as being just as relevant and acceptable as male sexuality. In the society we live in today, female sexuality is either a particularly taboo subject, which is shied away from completely as if it is something to be ashamed of; or it is… Self Portrait - Monotype,
Woodford County High School
I wanted to look at identity through this project, so I produced self portraits in a variety of media in order to explore my own identity. I particularly enjoyed working with monotypes because each print comes out differently. I also like the way texture can be created through… Pede-strain,
Xaverian College
This painting is one of a series of ten which focuses on crowds. Social interactions with "strangers" have always fascinated me, by nature they come in such varied forms with little to no indicators of what to expect, making it near impossible to predict your journey visually when you… Untitled but Important,
Bedford College
This piece is based on the LGBT flag. I believe that LGBT people still face a lot of hate and problems. I wanted to do this for them!
Overall my pieces are based on my common theme of three things that bother me about society todayBrought it on themselves,
Birkenhead Sixth Form College
Triptych of a couple ignoring the homeless subject, the homeless subject (Darren), and two policemen. Painted to highlight the new homeless fines and how the homeless are dismissed daily. I used negative space to portray how the public ignored them and used Charming Baker as… Abstract Vomit,
Lady Margaret School
This piece has been created from a series of photographs I took of artificially made vomit. The idea was to take something grotesque and make it beautiful. My technique was to abstract it and make it bright a bold. Not just to make it beautiful but something you can't ignoreIgnorance,
Liverpool Blue Coat School
Influenced by the theme of "consequences". This piece looks at how consequences can be caused by ignorance. I have tried to contextualise this concept by bringing in the idea of ignorance in politics and how ignorance amongst the world's political leaders and influences can and…
Nu. ages
St Dunstans College
I made this short film as an attempt to visually translate all the exciting ideas and images that can go through someones head, even against their will! Combining adverts, movies, and paintings to small animations was a way to express how everything we see around us gets mixed in an incoherent fashion within our imagination.
Untitled
Cheltenham Ladies College
Reflecting back to the theme of objectification of women, I used digital media to establish a relationship between women and raw meat, highlighting and mocking the status of women in some cultures, which is just as cheap, easily obtainable and objectified.The shooting and editing was inspired by Ways of Seeing by John Berger, which suggests that perspectives are influenced by people's personal experiences, knowledge and conditions (e.g. location, time, mood) when viewing the image. I juxtaposed and angled the chicken in a way that suggests female genitalia to make sexual innuendos as well as to mock the treatment of women as sexual objects.
Factory
Marymount International School
The artwork was made using a 3D zoetrope technique, which makes 12 different stills appear animated. This technique is used to exaggerate what is happening in the factory where a piggy bank is repeatedly produced and consumed. The intention is to show how the importance of an object easily fades away as the process repeats over and over again. The title refers to Andy Warhol's studio, "Silver Factory".
A Test of Fears
New Hall School
As noises and sound-effects in famous thrillers and horrors create suspense, I decided to put that to the test. The two people in this video are listening to an audio piece that I created based on a fear test that people took part in. However, these people did not do that test...here are their reactions...
N/A
University College School
This video is meant to be shown on loop repetitively in a gallery space and it explores how I can create visually pleasing imagery, also exploring how one can take a video and make it stand out. I found fast aggressive music, which had also been created for this purpose, makes a video seem more action packed than if it weren't there, after that the main reasoning behind a lot of the imagery was to create eye candy which was aesthetically nice to look at.