Art Gives a Voice to the Voiceless by Bob and Roberta Smith

V&A Select is a new collection of artist prints commissioned by the V&A. Each print is available in an edition of just 75. The artists were chosen for the way their work connects with the V&A and creates the opportunity for a new dialogue with the collection.

Bob and Roberta Smith have been painting slogans using improvised fonts for many years. The design of the print, commissioned by the V&A, sits in the tradition of revolutionary art: central to Bob and Roberta Smith's thinking is the idea that campaigns are extended artworks which include a variety of consciousness-raising artefacts. In keeping with the founding aims of the museum to bring art and design to the masses, Bob and Roberta Smith see art as an important element in democratic life. The colours of the print are inspired by 16th-century playing cards in the V&A collection, an early example of the democratization of art owing to the woodcut printing process.

Bob and Roberta Smith is the pseudonym for Patrick Brill, a British contemporary artist, writer, author, musician, art education advocate. An Artist Trustee of Tate between 2009 and 2013, Patrick has recently been elected to be a Royal Academician. He lives between Leytonstone in East London and Ramsgate. 

Created exclusively for the V&A.