Artwork banned by Paul McCartney heading to auction
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(Credits: Alamy)
Every year, alongside the host of gigs that War Child puts on to raise money, the charity also runs a campaign called ‘Secret 7”. The project consists of different artists designing unique limited edition 7” records for a specific track that will later be auctioned off for charity. However, one piece of art relating to Paul McCartney is no longer involved in the project.
Musicians such as Celeste, The Specials, and Aurora were all involved in the campaign as limited edition pieces of art were created for specific songs of theirs and put on display at London’s NOW Gallery. Once the exhibition was over, all the records were auctioned off with the proceeds going to War Child.
The campaign has proven to be a success in the past as between 2012 to 2020, it has managed to raise £500,000 for good causes. Rich Clarke, the head of the charity has spoken about the cause, saying, “War Child operates in some of the most challenging, hard-to-reach places to help children and families who are most severely affected by war. Sadly, demand for our work is growing.”
He continued, “We are grateful to all the musicians, artists and partners who are involved in Secret 7″. Together, we will be able to project and educate many more children, supporting their healing and learning for a safer, brighter future.”
While most of the campaign went off without a problem, McCartney rejected one of the 7″ records that were made for him. It was a wooden sculpture created by Wilfrid Wood, which is very in line with the artist’s style; however, McCartney banned it from being shown at the exhibition as he deemed it “too unflattering,” according to the artist behind the piece.
The campaign with ‘Secret 7”’ is the first time that McCartney has publicly banned an album cover himself because he doesn’t think like it.
Despite the sleeve not forming a part of ‘Secret 7”’, artist Wilfrid Wood has still put it up on eBay, where all proceeds will go towards War Child.
In his post on Instagram where he put the sleeve up for sale, he said, “This year I sculpted Paul McCartney but my contribution was BANNED by Macca the gang because it was TOO UNFLATTERING.”
He continued, “So I’m auctioning it myself on eBay with ALL proceeds going to War Child UK, a charity for children affected by conflict in Gaza, Ukraine and other war zones globally.”
Wood also discussed the irony that McCartney’s decision to ban the artwork has only made more people aware of it. “If they’d left it alone it would have been lost in the 700-odd Secret 7” sleeves,” he said, “But now they’ve banned it, it’s getting all this extra attention!”
This isn’t the first time that The Beatles have been involved in a banned artwork case, as their initial cover for Yesterday and Today was met with appal. The cover, shot by Robert Whitaker, showed all four band members dressed in white coats and holding dismembered plastic doll limbs.
