Summer Exhibition
Royal Academy of Arts

If you like art, but really don't know where to start, there are worse places than the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition. There are around 1200 pieces of art by hundreds of artists and most of the pieces are available to buy, some for just £40, others for hundreds of thousands. As with most art, it's possibly not the quality of the artwork that pushes the price up, but the popularity of the artist themselves.

Thankfully, you don't have to buy scheduled tickets. And you get a little booklet to tell you who you're looking at and just how much it'll cost. These are handily numbered so you can make sure you see everything. This sounds crazy until you walk inside, and you're assaulted by hundreds of paintings all staring back at you.

Unfortunately, it's difficult to appreciate the beauty of some of the works. As someone cleverly pointed out, it's a bit like advertising. The pieces that catch your eye aren't necessarily the best, or even the ones that you like the most. They're the biggest and the most shocking. This is most obvious in the 'Small Western Room' where you literally can't see the swarm of paintings for the swarm of people. When you do finally focus on one painting, you get distracted by something else very quickly.

When you get used to this, you'll see that most of the paintings are very good. One of the best things about the show is that there will be something for everyone. How could there not be? But get used to people saying 'ooh, I'd really like that painting if it didn't have that bit in the corner.' Would that happen in the National Gallery?

Summer Exhibition isn't a typical show. There's no explanation of the paintings, you only get one, maybe two pieces from each artist, and there isn't really a 'feel' in the place. You get a glimpse of some great artwork, but without the pretension of an art gallery. The show is more like a crash course in deciding what you like and what you don't. It's not too challenging. There isn't enough time to really question what it's about. It's just aesthetically pleasing.

Of course, that's until you get to the room that Tracey Emin curated. And isn't she always the exception to the rule? It's the best laid out room, and yes it has some shocking artwork in it. But it's more appealing because you can walk around it without feeling pressured to get out of the way. You're relaxed. Considering the subject matter of some of the pieces in there, it's an impressive achievement. The piece 'Untitled' by Julian Schnabel of a Japanese Geisha is in this room. It's one of Tracey Emin's 'favourite paintings in the whole world.' It's now also one of mine.