Claridge’s and the Royal Academy Schools continue their commitment to supporting the next generation of artistic talent with Rosa Klerkx: 216, a new solo exhibition by the winner of the 2025 Claridge’s Royal Academy Schools Art Prize. Opening at Perrotin London from 1–26 September 2026, the exhibition spotlights the multidisciplinary practice of Rosa Klerkx, a 2025 graduate of the Royal Academy Schools whose work moves across video, performance, photography and sound.
Now in its third year, the prestigious prize offers emerging artists a significant platform at a pivotal moment in their careers, awarding £30,000 alongside a solo exhibition in London. Selected by an esteemed panel of Royal Academicians including Chantal Joffe, Roger Hiorns and Claudette Johnson, Klerkx’s presentation marks an exciting new chapter for one of the Royal Academy Schools’ emerging voices.
Klerkx’s winning exhibition, 216, comprises a three-channel film, a composition for euphonium and a series of photographic blueprints. Klerkx developed the work after travelling to a town previously unknown to her and repeatedly returning to the same streets, buildings and viewpoints. Rather than selecting a location based on personal associations, the town was determined by a numerical system, drawing on references including Plato’s The Republic.
At the centre of 216 is a new three-channel film installation shot inside a disused building in the town. Local residents perform a choreographic score, each participant performing the work individually, resulting in subtle shifts in pace, attention and gesture.
Accompanying the film is a new composition for euphonium written by Klerkx. Like the choreography, it begins with an existing structure that is gradually altered through repetition, omission and rearrangement. Running independently alongside the other works in the exhibition, the composition extends Klerkx’s interest in repetition and variation through sound.
The final component is a series of photographic blueprints made from 35mm photographs taken over 216 hours spent in the town. Produced by exposing light- sensitive paper directly to sunlight outside the artist’s studio, each exposure was timed according to changing weather conditions. They record observations accumulated over time while retaining the traces of their own making.
Two historic Mayfair institutions, Claridge’s and the Royal Academy Schools, are united by a shared commitment to creativity and excellence. Together, they support emerging artists at a time when rising higher education fees and studio costs in London make artistic careers increasingly difficult to sustain. The inaugural Claridge’s Royal Academy Schools Art Prize recipient, Daria Blum, has since exhibited her work at Tate Modern, underscoring the initiative’s impact as a powerful springboard for early-career talent.
Rosa Klerkx: 216 is on view at Claridge’s, Brook’s Mews, London from 1 to 26 September 2026. For more information visit
Perrotin London
Tuesday–Saturday, 10am–6pm Admission is free
