Established in 2014 to raise money for the The Hepatitis C Trust, Art on A Postcard is embarking on its second secret auction. The artwork comes from a mix of very well known and established artists such as Jake and Dinos Chapamn, Bob and Roberta Smith, Jeremy Deller, David Shrigley, Peter Blake, Gilbert and George, Polly Morgan, Chantal Joffe and Rachel Howard, Royal Academicians such as Mick Rooney RA and Stephen Chambers, emerging talent, such as George Little, Scarlett Carlos Clarke and Hayden Kayes, urban artists such as Inkie, Xenz and Swifty and photographers such as Dougie Wallace and Tom Beard.
All the lots are anonymous and will remain so until the bidding has finished. A PDF is available on the Art on a Postcard website with the artists names listed in alphabetical order.
“Scrolling through the Art On A Postcard website almost reminded me of a crate of fireworks exploding. A pandemonium of pictures. A detonation of ideas and images. The sharing of private thoughts for public consumption with the added piquancy of the message to a stranger.
The nature of The Art On A Postcard project prompted me to experiment, but from a very restricted base: the inherent proportions subsequently determine the divisions and shapes within the postcard, the colours that filled those shapes then took over. I would fix a main theme, say a red or a blue and maybe a complementary colour, but thereafter I had to follow what the card demanded. Modulating the colours and tones reminded me of Walter Paters’ dictum “All art constantly aspires to the condition of music”. This seems a rather sweeping statement, but certainly the affinity between abstract painting and music is very strong.
Scale did not prove to be the problem I anticipated, only restricting the size of the brushes. Otherwise imagination and aspiration took over. I would look at a piece and think ‘Wow! That would be a knock out at 10 or 20 feet high’. I remember having seen ‘back of the envelope sketches for Sydney Opera House and Paxton’s’ Crystal Palace.
Obviously the postcard should entice, even seduce; my aim is to prompt someone into thinking “I must have that on my wall”
– Anonymous Artist featured in Art on a Postcard
The exhibits can be viewed at the Soho Revue, in London’s West End – 10 to 12 November – and bid on at theauctionroom.com/auctions/149.