RCA Secret 2013

Last year the Royal College of Art in London took a break from holding it's annual RCA Secret Postcard exhibition/sale, much to the dismay of many of the show's hardened fans. But this year it's back, and at can be seen at a new location, south of the river; at the RCA's Dyson Building in Battersea.

Last night I checked out the show at the RCA Secret Artists' Party. I didn't manage to spot many pieces by my favourite regular contributors but it was a very busy event and I ended up chatting to other artists most of the night, so I probably missed loads of the postcards. Every time that I've revisited past RCA Secret shows I've always discovered a few gems that I missed on previous visits so I plan to go back in the daytime and look over the vast selection of work more carefully.

  
For anyone that doesn't know about the RCA Secret here's the basic run down (lifted from the RCA site) -

“The Secret

Ever wondered if you could spot a Paula Rego at 20 paces? How about a David Bailey? Each postcard in RCA Secret is signed only on the back, so collectors won’t know the identity of the artists until they have made their purchases. 

We’re giving you nine days to check out this eclectic collection and then for one day only the cards will be sold to support the RCA Fine Art Student Award Fund. With generous contributions of new work from hundreds of leading international artists and designers, RCA Secret continues to help emerging artists at a formative stage in their careers. So whether you walk away with a famous name or not, you’ll be buying a bit of history and contributing to the future. 

The new RCA Secret 2013 postcards are available to view HERE. 

Each postcard costs £45 and a maximum of four cards may be purchased per person. Postcards are only available to purchase in person at the Sale. You must have an RCA Secret Collector's Number to purchase a card at RCA Secret 2013. Register HERE to get one.” 

As well as Paula Rego and David Bailey, there are plenty of other well known artists contributing to this years show: Maggi Hambling, Bob and Roberta Smith, Pete Fowler, Nick Park, and Billy Childish, to name but a few... 

As I can't show you my three 2013 RCA Secret postcards until after the sale on 23rd March (that would be naughty), here's a few of my contributions from previous years (unfortunately I don't have any images of my postcards from pre-2008) - 

                       
                                                                                                'Tentacle Tower', RCA Secret 2011

                                                                                                 'Werecrow', RCA Secret 2010

                                                                                                      'Love Is', RCA Secret 2009

     
                                                                                     'Spidey Pod Wave', RCA Secret 2008


Royal College of Art Battersea 
Dyson Building 
1 Hester Road 
London SW11 4AN 

Exhibition open: 14-22 March (11AM-6PM daily) 
Late Open: 21 March (until 9PM) 
Sale Open: Saturday 23 March (8AM-6PM)