Textile art at the summer exhibition

“A huge pincushion,” is how my friend described it. My old favourite Joana Vasconcelos created the piece that greets you on entering this year’s summer exhibition. 2018 is the 250th year of the Royal Academy’s grand summer spectacle.

Among the 1,300 pieces on display are a number of textile artworks. Joana Vasconcelos’ is called ‘Royal Valkyrie’, combining astonishing size with soft, feminine materials. Utterly different, a piece by El Anatsui called ‘Change in Fortune’, is made of squashed bottletops, held together by copper wire, creating a glittering, silky wall hanging that simultaneously attracts and disturbs.

The exhibition remains open until 19 August. We went late on a Friday and it was great fun walking around with a glass of wine checking out the prices – nearly everything is for sale and sometimes very affordable -, while making our hypothetical list of favourite pieces.