From David Hockney to James Dyson, some of the world’s best-known artists and designers have studied or taught at the Royal College of Art. Now the RCA has launched a new exhibition about its 175-year history.
I visited the free show yesterday and was amazed at the breadth of work on display, from a real Porsche designed by RCA graduate Matthias Kulla, to David Hockney paintings from the 1960s, sculptures by Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, and a boat designed by James Dyson while he was still a student at the college.
I liked Gavin Turk’s blue plaque stating “Gavin Turk, Sculptor worked hereâ€, which he famously exhibited in an empty studio for his degree show, and Tracey Emin’s The Perfect Place to Grow, a shed on stilts with a peephole that visitors are encouraged to look through.
Two of the most memorable artworks were a big cat made from coat hangers by David Mach (pictured above) and a sculpture made from plastic dolls’ heads joined together at the neck by Jake and Dinos Chapman.
I left feeling inspired and excited by the creative buzz at the RCA, and almost wishing that I could become a student again.
The Perfect Place to Grow: 175 Years of the Royal College of Art is on until 3 January