Patrick Brill (born 1963), better known by his pseudonym Bob and Roberta Smith, is a British

contemporary artist Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic co ...

, writer, author, musician, art education advocate, and keynote speaker. He is known for his "slogan" art, is an associate professor at the School of Art, Architecture and Design at

London Metropolitan University London Metropolitan University, commonly known as London Met, is a public research university in London, England. The University of North London (formerly the Polytechnic of North London) and London Guildhall University (formerly the City ...

and has been curator of public art projects, like ''Art U Need''. He was curator for the 2006 ''Peace Camp'' and created the 2013 ''Art Party'' to promote contemporary art and advocacy. His works have been exhibited and are in collections in Europe and the United States. Brill co-founded The Ken Ardley Playboys and hosts the ''Make Your Own Damn Music'' radio show. His father is the landscape painter Frederick Brill who was head of the

Chelsea School of Art Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London based in London, United Kingdom, and is a leading British art and design institution with an international reputation. It offers further education, further ...

from 1965 to 1979. His wife is the contemporary artist and lecturer,

Jessica Voorsanger Jessica Voorsanger (born 1965) is an American artist and academic, living and working in London. She has worked on the "Mystery Train" project for the Institute of Contemporary Arts to make contemporary art more accessible to people with learnin ...

Life and work

Patrick Brill is the son of Frederick Brill (1920–1984), who was the

Chelsea Art School Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London based in London, United Kingdom, and is a leading British art and design institution with an international reputation. It offers further and higher educati ...

head and his wife, the artist Deirdre Borlase. He has a sister who is a psychiatric nurse, Roberta. He graduated from the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

and received a scholarship during that time to

The British School at Rome The British School at Rome (BSR) is an interdisciplinary research centre supporting the arts, humanities and architecture. History The British School at Rome (BSR) was established in 1901 and granted a UK Royal Charter in 1912. Its mission is " ...

. He then obtained his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. ...

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

, London. Brill is married to fellow artist and Goldsmiths College alumna,

. Brill was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrat ...

for services to the arts.

Careers

Art

Cab Exterior - 'TAXY' Bob & Roberta Smith

Brill is commonly known as Bob and Roberta Smith in his artistic career. The pseudonym has been retained from the short lived period when he worked with his sister Roberta. Smith paints slogans in a brightly coloured lettering style on banners and discarded boards of wood and exhibits them in galleries of

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic co ...

across the world. The slogans are usually humorous musing on art, politics, popular culture, Britain and the world in general and they often support his activist campaigns, such as his 2002 amnesty on bad art at Pierogi Gallery, New York. Noted for sign painting, Smith also makes sculpture using cement, as in his 2005 Cement Soup Kitchen at Beaconsfield Gallery, London. A sculpture he proposed was shortlisted for the fourth plinth in

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson commem ...

, London. In March 2005 he was commissioned to act as curator on a series of five public art projects in the

Thames Gateway Thames Gateway is a term applied to an area around the Thames Estuary in the context of discourse around regeneration and further urbanisation. The term was first coined by the UK government and applies to an area of land stretching east from ...

housing estates of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. The projects were collectively named ''Art U Need'' and were documented in a diary-format book by Smith in 2007. Writing of a "glittering Notting Hill Gate" event to introduce the project, Lynn Barber said of Smith: "It was a startlingly unsuitable subject for such a glossy audience, but he held them spellbound. I see him as a sort of

Ian Dury Ian Robins Dury (12 May 1942 27 March 2000) was a British singer, songwriter and actor who rose to fame during the late 1970s, during the punk and new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Ian Dury and the Blockheads ...

of the art world, someone who keeps on trucking, doing his own thing, making absolutely no concessions to fashion or marketability, but generally giving pleasure to everyone who comes across him." A feature documentary about the work of Bob and Roberta Smith, ''Make Your Own Damn Art: the world of Bob and Roberta Smith'', directed by John Rogers, premiered at the East End Film Festival in 2012. In 2013, he was on the UK Museum of the Year selection panel. He is on the Tate board as an artist member. In October 2021, Brill contributed to WWF's campaign, Art For Your World.

Speaker, writer and advocate

He has spoken as an advocate for art education and the arts and has been a keynote speaker at symposia and conferences. A recent example of his gift for merging art and politics was illustrated in the 2006 exhibition, "Peace Camp." Smith took part in and curated the show held at The Brick Lane Gallery that explored artists perceptions on Peace.

Gavin Turk Gavin Turk (born 1967) is a British artist from Guildford in Surrey, and is considered to be one of the Young British Artists.Tate Modern. (2009)'Pop Life: Art in a Material World' Retrieved 14 August 2012. Turk's oeuvre deals with issues of au ...

Wolfgang Tillmans Wolfgang Tillmans (born 16 August 1968) is a German photographer. His diverse body of work is distinguished by observation of his surroundings and an ongoing investigation of the photographic medium’s foundations. Tillmans was the first photog ...

, and more than 100 other artists were featured. He created a project, the Art Party, in 2013 to make contemporary art more accessible, demonstrate its ability to influence meaningful conversation and political thought. It was launched at the

Pierogi Gallery Pierogi are filled dumplings made by wrapping unleavened dough around a savory or sweet filling and cooking in boiling water. They are often pan-fried before serving. Pierogi or their varieties are associated with the cuisines of Central, Easter ...

in New York and at the Hales Gallery. An Arts Council sponsored a two-day conference at Crescent Arts in North Yorkshire that year. It brought more than 2000 people who attended discussions of art education in schools and lectures, listened to music and attended performances. Brill writes for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

''.

Educator

Brill is an associate professor at the School of Art, Architecture and Design at

, teaching bachelor and graduate students. He is also a course leader for the

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts a ...

program, researcher and co-lead with Oriana Fox of the Public Acts studio and tutors in fine art.

Musician

Brill performs music, often with a group he co-founded, The Ken Ardley Playboys, who had their first 45 released by

Billy Childish Billy Childish (born Steven John Hamper, 1 December 1959) is an English painter, author, poet, photographer, film maker, singer and guitarist. Since the late 1970s, Childish has been prolific in creating music, writing and visual art. He has le ...

on his label

Hangman Records Hangman may refer to: * Executioner who carries out a death sentence by hanging * Hangman (game), a game of guessing a word or phrase one letter at a time Arts and entertainment Comics * Hangman (DC Comics), an enemy of Batman * Hangman (Marvel ...

. Brill hosts The Bob & Roberta Smith Radio Show called ''Make Your Own Damn Music'' on

Resonance FM Resonance 104.4 FM is a London based non-profit community radio station specialising in the arts run by the London Musicians' Collective (LMC). The station is staffed by four permanent staff members, including programme controller Ed Baxter and ...

2015 election

Brill stood in the

Surrey Heath Surrey Heath is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Camberley. Much of the area is within the Metropolitan Green Belt. History The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Loc ...

constituency in the 2015 general election, under the pseudonym Bob and Roberta Smith. He won the fewest votes in the constituency, receiving 273 votes (0.5%) and losing his deposit. The seat was won by incumbent MP

Michael Gove Michael Andrew Gove (; born Graeme Andrew Logan, 26 August 1967) is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations since 2021. He has been Member of Parli ...

Exhibitions

* 2002 – Bunch of Cowards, Collective Gallery, Edinburgh * 2002 – It's not easy being a famous Artist, Galerie Praz Delavallade, Paris * 2002 – The Art Amnesty, Deptford X, London * 2002 – The New York Art Amnesty, Pierogi 2000, New York * 2002 – Useless men and Stupid Women, Anthony Wilkinson Gallery, London * 2003 – The Mobile Reality Creator, Compton Verney * 2004 – Help Build The Ruins of Democracy, The Baltic * 2005/06 – Make Your Own Damn Art, Stanley Picker Gallery, Kingston, UK * 2005/06 – Should I Stay Or Should I Go? (Dilemmas For Margate), Margate High Street, Turner Contemporary * 2005/06 – The Beautiful Poetry of Bob and Roberta Smith, Hales Gallery, London * 2007 – Peace Camp, The Brick Lane Gallery, London * 2008 – Fourth Plinth, The National Gallery, London * 2008 – Tate Christmas Tree, Tate Britain, London * 2009 – Altermodern, Tate Triennial exhibition, Tate Britain, London *2014/15 – Art Amnesty, MoMA PS1, Long Island City, NY * 2017 – Folkestone Is An Art School, Folkestone Triennial, Kent * 2018 – La Panacée-MoCo, Montpellier

Collections

Arts Council Collection The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both h ...

, London *

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh la ...

, London * Goss Michael Foundation, Dallas, Texas * Sammlung Fiede,

Aschaffenburg Aschaffenburg (; South Franconian: ''Aschebersch'') is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is its administrative seat. Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric ...

, Germany * Southampton City Museum & Art Gallery, Southampton, England *

Tate Collection Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

, London *

The New Art Gallery Walsall The New Art Gallery Walsall is a modern and contemporary art gallery sited in the centre of the West Midlands town of Walsall, England. It was built with £21 million of public funding, including £15.75 million from the UK National Lottery an ...

, Walsall, UK

Published works

;Author * * * * * ;Co-author * * *

References

External links

The Official Bob and Roberta Smith Website
* Gerhard Bissell
''Brill, Patrick''
in: ''

Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon Thieme-Becker is a German biographical dictionary of artists. Thieme-Becker The dictionary was begun under the editorship of Ulrich Thieme (1865–1922) (volumes one to fifteen) and Felix Becker (1864–1928) (volumes one to four). It was comple ...

(Artists of the World)'', Suppl. IV, Saur, Munich 2010, from p. 3 (in German). *
Interview with Myartspace

* ttps://www.riseart.com/artist/121664/bob-and-roberta-smith/art/ Bob and Roberta Smith for WWF Art For Your World {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Bob and Roberta 1963 births Living people Alumni of the University of Reading Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London Artists from Reading, Berkshire English contemporary artists Officers of the Order of the British Empire Pseudonymous artists Royal Academicians