Time Out, Bob and Roberta Smith.

Bob and Roberta Smith spoke to Time Out about his belief that 'all schools should be art schools' and on standing as an independent candidate for Surrey Heath against Michael Gove.

Bob and Roberta Smith wooden alphabet blocks, Time Out London cover, January 27- February 2, 2015. 

Kit Grover worked with Bob and Roberta Smith to produce a set of wooden alphabet blocks for TATE in 2009 and the 'How to Improve the World' bag in 2006 for the Arts Council Collection.

Dalí Antics

We began working for Tate in 2000 with a wide brief to respond to the collection of the new Tate Modern. After delivering the first products, we were asked us to work on their exhibition merchandise. The first was Zero to infinity: Arte Povera 1962-1972, the second was  Surrealism: Desire Unbound, also in 2001, from when our story begins.

Still from 'Un Chien andalou', 1924. Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel

Though made in reference to Dalí, the idea to spell out the name Tate in ants was to imagine that their blurry brand had been spelled out in sugar, and that the ants swarmed to feed on the origin of Tate's wealth. A later Dalí exhibition travelled to MoMA in 2008 and they asked for their name to be spelled in the same way. Though MoMA has nothing to do with the sugar trade, and did not have a blurry logo, it still looked brilliant made out of ants. It remains on sale at MoMA after six years:

MoMA Ants Tote bag for the 'Dalí: Painting and Film' exhibition, 2008. Available to buy here.

Monday Portrait: Ken Currie

Continuing a slightly morbid run of Monday Portraits, this week is 'Unfamiliar Reflection', 2002 by Ken Currie. The reflection brings to mind Francis Bacon's 1955 work 'Study for a Portrait II (after the Life Mask of William Blake)'.

For those in Edinburgh, Currie's latest exhibition 'New Works' opens this weekend at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

Post-Operative

Lichtenstein: A Retrospective opened at the Tate Modern last week. A similar love of comic books inspired us to create some 'post-operative' graphics for New York's Met Opera -

Christmas Gift Guide: Part 3 of 3

Mark Titchner at Tate
UP! Badge £4






















Bob and Roberta Smith at Tate
Blocks £30

Royal Shakespeare Company
Hamlet pencil 85p

Richard Wentworth at Tate
Meniscus glass £8.95

Spotted! Duro Oluwu umbrella

Spotted! The Duro Oluwu umbrella brightening up a very rainy Farringdon last week.

We made the umbrella for OFT (the collaboration between Outset Contemporary Art Fund, Frieze and the Tate) with print designed by Duro Oluwu.

Read more about the umbrella on the Swelle Life blog, and the rest of the range at kitgrover.com.

The umbrella is available now from the Tate Modern shop.

Grayson Perry reliquaries

A box of smashed pottery has arrived! While strongly resisting the urge to try and put the pots back together, we are starting to make some more Grayson Perry reliquaries.


Grayson Perry: "I think that the way we look at art comes from religion. We go to special buildings to stare at significant and precious things. We feel it is good for us. Tate Modern is a 21st century cathedral. Artists are its saints and holy fools. Here is a relic of one of them to take home from your pilgrimage."

The Clocks

Are going back! Here are some clock-related facts to fill your extra hour.

1.) A tattoo of a clock with no hands represents time served in prison.

2.) According to superstitious souls it is a sign of death if a clock strikes when it has stopped running.

3.) Christian Marclay's award-winning work 'The Clock', 2010 is co-owned by the Tate, the Pompidou Centre and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and is composed of over ten thousand clips of clocks. 

Damien Hirst umbrella

Beautiful, amore, gasp, eyes going into the top of the head and fluttering (painting)...

 The umbrella we made for the Hirst exhibition at Tate Modern was featured in Stylist magazine's art special!