Plinth

In today's households the common tea towel is a Trojan Horse. Lurking beneath its innocent, utilitarian, soft dish-drying form, is the question ‘Who does the dishes, who does the housework?’ Loaded issues for every home.

Kate Groobey’s seemingly harmless kitchen kitsch conveys her articulate, painterly and subversive take on gender ritual and role-play straight to your dish rack. Throughout Groobey’s oeuvre the domestic ritual is enacted as a folkloric challenge to the status quo. In her hands the repetitive act of drying-up takes on a ceremonial rhythm of intimacy and defiance.

Kate Groobey’s ‘Domestic Bliss Tea Towel’ was produced in collaboration with artist-run curatorial platform, Assembly Line. It was printed in the UK on a fine cotton/linen fabric mix by Paul Bristow Ltd, industry leading art textile manufacturers and printers for Tate.

Assembly Line is a London-based artist-run curatorial platform founded by Shane Bradford in 2019. Enacting a semi-cooperative business model Assembly Line collaborates with invited artists to produce original, bespoke fine art products, multiples, and exhibitions.