RCA Secret 2010
Royal College of Art, London
12 & 14 - 20 November 2010
Last update for this post: 11.11.2010
RCA Secret is an annual contemporary art exhibition and sale consisting of around 2,500 original postcard-sized artworks, made and donated by professional artists, designers and illustrators, plus up-and-coming students and alumni from the Royal College of Art. The cards are all sold to the public in a huge sale, with every postcard costing just £45, regardless of whether it has been made by a famous name or a young art student.
What’s the Secret? Each postcard is signed on the back, so collectors don’t know the identity of the artist until they have made their purchase. Although it can help to know the difference between a drawing by Tracey Emin and a watercolour by David Hockney, a lot of it is down to pure luck and many collectors don’t realise whose work they have chosen until they hand over their cash on the sale day.
All images are a random selection from RCA Secret 2010
© ‘Secret Artists’ / Royal College of Arts. Courtesy of the RCA
The RCA is grateful to receive enormous support from hundreds of leading international artists and designers who contribute to the event each year. Artists may choose to paint, draw, sketch or even produce a 3-d sculpture as long as it’s postcard-sized.
This year the RCA has received a record 2,800 original postcard-sized artworks, the most the event has received in its 17 year history, among the bigger names this year are:
artists Grayson Perry, Tracey Emin, Olafur Eliasson, Jake Chapman, Sir Anthony Caro, John Baldessari, Yoko Ono, Franz West, Yinka Shonibare, Richard Wentworth, Grenville Davey, Harold Offeh, Billy Childish, Andrzej Jackowski, Lawrence Weiner, Anthony Frost, Maggi Hambling and Mary Fedden, photographer David Bailey, illustrator Quentin Blake, fashion designers Mary Quant, Paul Smith, Stella McCartney, Manolo Blahnik, Erdem, Julien Macdonald, Eley Kishimoto, Andrew Fionda and Hardy Blechman, designers Ron Arad, Sir Kenneth Adam, Sir James Dyson, John Pawson, Sir Terence Conran and Ross Lovegrove, architect Will Alsop, filmmaker Mike Leigh and graphic designers Milton Glaser and Margaret Calvert.
Potential collectors will be able to view all the postcards in person at the RCA in London or on-line from 12 November 2010. All postcards go up for sale for one day only on Saturday 20 November at the RCA. Postcards can only be bought on a first come, first served basis, with no sealed bids or reservations in advance. There will also be a raffle for collectors to win a position in the first fifty places in the queue.
As well as being a fundraiser for the Fine Art students at the College, RCA Secret has a loyal following of supporters including regular collectors and art-lovers some of whom have been visiting the show since it began in 1994. It is not only one of the most popular events at the RCA, but has now become an established date in the British art calendar.
Exhibition days & hours: 12 & 14-19 November, 11am-6pm daily, free admission.
Sale day & hours: Saturday 20 November, 8am-6pm.
Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU
Tube: South Kensington/High Street Kensington
Buses: 9,10, 52, 452
RCA Secret 2010 is sponsored by Stewarts Law LLP.
