For the last twenty-five years there has been a concerted effort to reflect what is actually going on up and down the land, and to pull in good examples of these different types of work. One of the more interesting innovations that has provided a wild card element to a section of this enormous show is the appointment of the artist/curator from among the RA’s membership. This year a large part of the hang has been organised by the Suffolk-based artist Ryan Gander OBE RA, which we have been looking forward to seeing.
We have been fans for a while. Ryan Gander has had an approach to his work that is broadly conceptual yet seems to embrace lots of different outcomes, sculpture, kinetic, graphic typefaces, painting, texts, publications and performances that the only thing they have in common is that they wrong-foot people. This sounds too clever by half. It is not as irritating as this sounds. There is sometimes an element in each work that makes the viewer question their perception. He had two beautiful stone sculptures installed at Houghton Hall one year, that so many people just walked past, not even realising that they were exhibits.
Peter Wylie
Peter was born in Lowestoft and completed a Foundation there in 1975. He gained a BA (Hons) degree in Fine Art from Canterbury College of Art 1978. After several decades pursuing his career, and continuing to paint, he decided to enrol on the MA Fine Art Printmaking at Camberwell College of Art, London (University of the Arts London) 2017.
Peter returned to painting full-time in 2007. It was his series of works that he called ‘Buildings’, a re-examination of the legacy of Twentieth Century Modernism in architecture, that has been the chief focus in his practice over these years and cemented his reputation. He has exhibited his work across the east of England, throughout the UK, and in London at the Royal Academy, Whitechapel Art Gallery, Royal-Overseas-League and in China, France and Cyprus.
"Of the multiple paintings of brutalist buildings, Peter Wylie’s image of Alexander Fleming House is the best". Eddy Frankel, The Guardian, 9 June, 2026
Painting by Peter Wylie: Alexander Fleming House, architect Goldfinger
SEE MORE OF PETER WYLIE'S PAINTINGS ONLINE
Alexander Costello
Amanda Edgcombe
About the author
Paul Vater
PAUL VATER
Paul conducts studio visits to maintain strong relationships with artists, designers and craftspeople who show their work with us. He manages the main C&C website and has developed the online shop where selected works are presented for sale.
Paul established his design company, Sugarfree, in 1990 and quickly gained a reputation for delivering fresh, effective marketing campaigns and brand identities for clients including Save the Children Fund, United Nations Association and UNHCR. Over the years those added to the roster include IPC Magazines, Arts Council England, The Roundhouse, Barbican Centre, Arts Marketing Association, Look Ahead Housing and Care, Paddington Waterside, BBC Worldwide, Commonwealth Foundation, Prestel, City of London Corporation, Baker Street Quarter, Victoria BID and the University of East Anglia.