Royal Drawing School BEST OF THE DRAWING YEAR 2021 at CHRISTIE’S
Christie’s, King Street: 25 – 31 March 2022

THE DRAWING YEAR 2020-21 END OF YEAR EXHIBITION at RDS SHOREDITCH
Royal Drawing School Shoreditch: 8 - 14 April 2022

The Royal Drawing School presents drawings, prints and works on paper by postgraduate students of The Drawing Year in a series of exhibitions in central and east London and online.

The exhibition showcases the next generation of creatives, who have spent the last 18 months developing their artistic practice through drawing from observation. Over 400 works will go on display in the School’s newly renovated Shoreditch galleries, while 100 of these will be selected for display in Best of The Drawing Year 2021 at the Duke Street Gallery in Christie’s, London.

EXHIBITION CELEBRATES BEING AROUND OTHERS

The works exhibited have been created during a period of lockdown and release – these shows are a celebration of community, being in the studio and the freedom to engage with people, place and culture again. Figures and portraits are captured in vibrant colour; lively sketches of London streets provoke the senses and domestic scenes exude warmth, rather than isolation.

The students began their year with the social isolation and lockdown of Spring 2021, but the School delivered their courses online and supported the growth of community through tutorials and social events. These exhibitions have also been pushed back due to COVID-19. One of the students, Dexter Phillips said: “I believe that we have overcome the odds to develop into a well-rounded and supportive unit. This is in no small part due to the efforts of the School staff, who all helped me to feel like I was part of something larger than myself, through regular contact and a general atmosphere of amicability and cooperation.”

ARTIST HIGHLIGHTS

The Drawing Year welcomes students from a wide range of backgrounds and artistic practices, including fine art, illustration, ceramics, printmaking and other creative fields.

William Goldsmith uses techniques from his degree in Communication Design at Glasgow School of Art, bringing words and drawings together. He focuses on how to represent and interpret spaces, whether physical spaces or spaces as memory.
Dexter Orszagh studied a BA in Graphic Design at UAL Central Saint Martins. His work explores the parameters of global, historical contexts, and he uses drawing as a way to record and report psychological happenings, such as a flash of inspiration, or moment of keen observation.

Viola Wang came to the School having completed a BA in Painting at Tsinghua University, and an MA in Drawing as Process at Kingston University. With illustration as her primary practice and profession, she uses images rather than words to develop artistic concepts and finds drawing the most efficient way to communicate ideas.

For Isabel Garfield, drawing has always been central to her fine art practice, in the way she gathers information from places and experiences. She uses the immediacy of drawing to generate ideas for her paintings, prints and installations.
Catarina Cardoso has a background in classical music and ceramics, and her drawings resonate with feeling, movement and rhythm, whether she is portraying a figure, landscape or narrative scene.

START YOUR ART COLLECTION WHILE SUPPORTING THE SCHOOL AND ARTISTS

This is a selling exhibition, and drawings and works on paper are an accessible way to start a collection and support emerging artists, with prices in the exhibitions ranging from £100 - £2,500.

The School is an independent charity, and a commission from the sale of each artwork goes towards funding its scholarship programmes, so that high-quality drawing tuition continues to be available to all regardless of background or circumstance.

ABOUT THE DRAWING YEAR - OUR NO FEES POSTGRADUATE COURSE

The Drawing Year offers 30 artists the opportunity to focus on drawing from life, art and their imagination. Students are taught to see drawing from observation as an end in itself, and in relation to their existing practice and other media. There are no fees and they each receive a free studio space.

Alumni of The Drawing Year continue to successful careers as contemporary practising artists. Past students have won high profile awards such as the John Moores Painting Prize, BP Portrait Award prizes, Jerwood Drawing Prize. Their work has been exhibition and collected by world-class galleries and museums such as the British Museum, Royal Academy and National Gallery.

OPEN STUDIOS

Students also curate their own Open Studios exhibition at SPACE Studios, Hackney, which is an opportunity to see more from their personal practices. This runs from 6 – 19 April (12-5pm every day) at SPACE Studios, 129, 131 Mare St, London E8 3RH.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

Title: BEST OF THE DRAWING YEAR 2021
Dates: 25 – 31 March 2022
Address: Duke Street Gallery at Christie’s, 8 King St, St. James's, London SW1Y 6QT
Opening hours: Monday to Friday 10am - 4pm / Saturday 12 - 5pm
www.royaldrawingschool.org/lectures-events/best-drawing-year-2021-christies/

Title: THE DRAWING YEAR 2021 END OF YEAR EXHIBITION
Dates: 8 – 14 April 2022
Address: Royal Drawing School Shoreditch, 19-22 Charlotte Road, London, EC2A 3SG
Opening hours: Monday to Friday 9am - 9pm / Saturdays and Sunday, 10am - 4.30pm
https://www.royaldrawingschool.org/lectures-events/drawing-year-2020-21-end-year-exhibition/

Exhibition Website: www.royaldrawingschoolexhibits.org
RDS Website: www.royaldrawingschool.org
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoyalDrawing
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/royaldrawingschool/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/royaldrawingschool
For press enquiries please contact: Elizabeth Morrow / [email protected]

THE ROYAL DRAWING SCHOOL

The aim of the Royal Drawing School is to raise the standard and profile of drawing through teaching and practise. It is one of only a few institutions in the world offering in-depth, quality tuition for those who wish to develop their observational drawing.
The School is based in Shoreditch, East London and runs a one-year MA-Level course, The Drawing Year, awarding a full scholarship and studio space in central London to every student, with living bursaries also available. Alongside the postgraduate course is a Public Programme of daytime and evening courses for adults in drawing, painting and printmaking, attended by over 1000 students each week, with heavily subsidised fees and a comprehensive concessions scheme that make courses accessible to the widest array of students. In addition, the School runs a Young Artists programme for students aged 10-18 years old. The School offers artists residencies around the world, both for its alumni and in some cases by invitation or open application to other practising artists.
Online courses cover the same materials and techniques as our studio-based courses: Drawing, Printmaking, Painting and Sculpture. Working from life, both indoors and outdoors, from art in impressive online museum collections and from the imagination, students are able to explore subject matter including: portraiture, the clothed figure, composition, colour, still life, image and text, world imagery, narrative and mindfulness.
All courses offer one-to-one feedback from our faculty and group crits as well as being a space to share ideas, learn from one another and push your practice in a new direction, whether you are a beginner or an experienced artist.

Previously The Prince’s Drawing School, it became the Royal Drawing School in November 2014, when it was announced that HM the Queen had consented to the School’s Royal status in recognition the of its academic and artistic excellence and its international importance as a specialist resource for people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities, who wish to develop their observational drawing.