BOB AND ROBERTA SMITH

Bob and Roberta Smith is actually one man. He used to collaborate with his sister but she retrained to become a group psychiatric specialist . Bob and Roberta Smith uses words painted on canvases and made into signs, written in newspapers and sung in songs to say statements about art and free expression that have influenced generations of teachers and students of arts subjects to embrace the idea that the arts are a human right.

Bob and Roberta Smith collaborated in the early 1990's with other artist musicians to create a lively art music scene with his band, The Ken Ardley playboys. The Ken Ardley playboys put out two albums and two singles - one with Billy Childish's Hangman records label. Bob's solo record 'Before TV there was the piano' was recorded at the famous Toerag studios. 

In 2015 Bob and Roberta Smith stood in a general election in the constituency of Michael Gove to directly confront him over his promotion of the Ebacc that has diminished the teaching of art in schools.  Bob and Roberta Smith's new band The Apathy Band includes long time collaborators, George Lionel Barker on bass, George Clegghorn on Sax, Leonardo Ulian on Theremin, Owen Thomas of Cee bee Beaumont and the Graham Coxon band on guitar and Bob's wife, the American artist Jessica Voorsanger on vocals. The Apathy Band sing ‘don’t join the Apathy band’ but get out there and celebrate creativity. Their song 'Artists Ruin it' imagines how people who don't 'get' the arts might imagine artists to be but ends in a joyous noisey demonstration of rebellion.

Bob and Roberta Smith has shown at Moma PS1 New York, Tate Britain and last year, Bob and Roberta Smith had a major retrospective in La Panacee, Montpellier, curated by Nicholas Bouriaud. Bob is a Royal Academician, and was awarded an OBE in 2017. Bob believes that ‘all schools should be art schools’.