Paul Smith’s Art Exhibit Opens in London

Paul Smith’s latest art exhibition, “The Secret Life of the Pencil,” pays homage to the pencil. The exhibit will be held at his Albemarle Street store in London. A majority of the exhibit’s proceeds will benefit the British charity, Children in Crisis, supporting children suffering the effects of conflict and civil war.

At the opening of the exhibit, Smith said: “So many of us use computers nowadays it’s so delightful to see the sheer volume of people who still use pencils.” He admitted his favorite pencil is a “propelling pencil… So I don’t have to keep sharpening it.”

“The Secret Life of the Pencil” was created by product and packaging designer, Alex Hammond and photographer, Mike Tinney. Hammond and Tinney wanted to “celebrate the simplicity of the writing instrument,” which are as they said, “unassuming, unsung and 0.02 percent the cost of an iPad.” Artwork in the exhibit includes up-close images of pencils used by “famoud creatives” like William Boyd, David Shrigley, David Bailey, John Pawson, Anish Kapoor, Celia Birtwell, Sir Quentin Blake, Dame Zandra Rhodes, Henry Holland, Peter Jensen and, of course, Paul Smith.