In a harmonious marriage of art, music and humanitarianism, the final edition of Secret 7" will auction off artist-designed record sleeves in aid of charity Help Refugees. The format is simple: seven tracks are chosen from seven of the world’s most eminent musicians and each is pressed 100 times to 7” vinyl. Among the 700 designers creating one-of-a-kind sleeves for this year's singles are Anish Kapoor, Tacita Dean, Jadé Fadojutimi, Lubaina Himid, Ragnar Kjartansson, Mark Wallinger, Jake & Dinos Chapman and Jeremy Deller.
Appealing to record fanatics and art enthusiasts alike, sleeves have been designed for one of a choice of seven classic tracks including One Step Ahead, by Aretha Franklin; Blind Willie McTell, by Bob Dylan; This Is A Call by Foo Fighters and Miles Runs The Voodoo Down, by Miles Davis.
There’s one catch: the identity of both the sleeve designer and track inside will remain under wraps until the record reaches its owner’s hands. All 700 records will be exhibited at NOW Gallery on Greenwich Peninsula from Wednesday 14 October - Sunday 1 November and will be sold via digital auction on the final day.
What began as a ‘side hustle’ in 2012 has now raised more than £215,000 for charitable causes and Secret 7" founders Kevin King and Jordan Stokes hope this final sale can bring the total to £250,000. Since their inception, the initiative has seen participating musicians include The Rolling Stones, Elton John and Public Enemy and original artwork created by the likes of Jenny Holzer, Yoko Ono and fashion designer Paul Smith.
In partnership with Columbia Records, Now Gallery and Camden Town Brewery, the project will raise funds for Help Refugees, a charity that provides both emergency aid and long term solutions – including food, clothing and shelter – to those most in need across the globe. The organisation has so far reached more than one million people through more than 120 projects in 15 countries.
INFORMATION
Secret 7” will be on view at NOW Gallery from 14 Oct - 1 November 2020. The public charity auction will be held online on 1 November.
ADDRESS
NOW Gallery
The Gateway Pavilions
Peninsula Square, Greenwich Peninsula
London SE10 0SQ
-
Six brilliant bars for your 2025 celebrations, hot off the Wallpaper* travel deskWallpaper’s most-read bar reviews of the year can't be wrong: here’s inspiration for your festive and new year plans, from a swanky Las Vegas lounge to a minimalist London drinking den
-
Misfires and Monstrosities: three vehicular design disasters that show taste is in retreatFrom a multi-million dollar piece merchandise to a wretched Rolls-Royce, these are the low points of the year in transportation design
-
Thirty years after Dog Man Star, Brett Anderson looks back on Suede's album coversBrett Anderson talks cover art, photography and iconic imagery
-
Inside the distorted world of artist George RouyFrequently drawing comparisons with Francis Bacon, painter George Rouy is gaining peer points for his use of classic techniques to distort the human form
-
‘I'm endlessly fascinated by the nude’: Somaya Critchlow’s intimate and confident drawings are on show in London‘Triple Threat’ at Maximillian William gallery in London is British artist Somaya Critchlow’s first show dedicated solely to drawing
-
Surrealism as feminist resistance: artists against fascism in Leeds‘The Traumatic Surreal’ at the Henry Moore Institute, unpacks the generational trauma left by Nazism for postwar women
-
Looking forward to Tate Modern’s 25th anniversary partyFrom 9-12 May 2025, Tate Modern, one of London’s most adored art museums, will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a lively weekend of festivities
-
Out of office: what the Wallpaper* editors have been doing this weekA week in the world of Wallpaper*. Here's how our editors have been entertaining themselves in the run up to Christmas
-
Love, melancholy and domesticity: Anna Calleja is a painter to watchAnna Calleja explores everyday themes in her exhibition, ‘One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night’, at Sim Smith, London
-
Ndayé Kouagou speaks the language of the chaotic social media influencer in LondonNdayé Kouagou celebrates meandering incoherence with an exhibition, ‘A Message for Everybody’, at Gathering in London
-
Out of office: what the Wallpaper* editors have been doing this weekA snowy Swiss Alpine sleepover, a design book fest in Milan, and a night with Steve Coogan in London – our editors' out-of-hours adventures this week
