The Royal College of Art's 2011 graduate summer shows will take place simultaneously across the College's two campuses in Battersea and Kensington from June 24 to July 3, 2011.
Sponsored by The Conran Foundation for the 6th year running, RCA graduate shows offer visitors - some 40,000 of them came through the College's doors last year - a unique opportunity to experience the very best of emerging contemporary art and design practice. Over 450 art and design postgraduate students will exhibit work of exceptional quality, imagination and technical skill. The exhibitions are free of charge to the public, with much of the work for sale or commission - ranging from paintings to prints, glassware to jewellery and furniture to textiles.
The RCA's campus in Battersea will host Show Battersea, featuring students' work from the Fine Art departments of Painting, Photography, Printmaking and Sculpture, exhibiting together for the first time south of the river. Both the Sculpture and Painting buildings will be used as gallery spaces, with some students exhibiting in the dramatic Testbed 1 gallery, located at the end of Howie Street.
North of the river, the entire campus will be used for Show Kensington, including work from Applied Art, Architecture and Design, Communications, Humanities and Fashion and Textiles. Students will exhibit in the College galleries, as well as in the Stevens building, with students taking over studios, staircases and corridors.
"The RCA Shows are about presenting radical and exciting new work by the latest generation of graduates, offering visitors a glimpse into the minds and methodologies of the world's most talented young artists and designers," said Dr Paul Thompson, Rector of the Royal College of Art. "This year for the first time ever, Fine Art will present work together in Battersea as a single dynamic exhibition. This will establish the new campus as an exciting cultural destination to see contemporary art in south London."
"Staging a single show across two sites is an exciting opportunity to showcase work by the entire graduating cohort, giving visitors access to the broadest possible range of practices," added Gareth Williams, Show Co-ordinator, and a Senior Tutor in Design Products. "This year's exhibition design will utilise the College buildings in a new way, making the experience a real voyage of discovery."
Show Kensington
Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU
Open to the public: 24 June - 3 July, (28 June closes at 4pm; closed on 1 July), 11am - 8pm daily
Show Battersea
Sculpture Building, 15-25 Howie Street, London SW11 4AS
Sackler Building, 14-22 Howie Street, London SW11 4AY
Testbed 1, 33 Parkgate Road, London SW11 4NP
Open to the public: 24 June - 3 July (closed 1 July), 11am - 8pm daily