Grey Organisation

[3] The following year it mounted an attack on Cork Street, then the centre of the London art world, splashing grey paint on the windows of a number of galleries.

[5] After moving to Bow in East London, Toby Mott and childhood friends Daniel Saccoccio, Tim Burke and Paul Spencer formed Grey Organisation in 1982 as a response to the "prevailing Thatcherite free market consumerist culture".

[7] They eschewed the more common anarcho-aesthetic opting instead to dress uniformly in grey suits, with heads shaved in a parody of yuppie and Soviet "corporate monoculture".

[9] In a press release GO justified the attacks on Cork Street, describing the galleries established there as "boring and lifeless" and stating they "intended to liven up their lives a bit!".

We parodied yuppie and Soviet corporate monoculture with our uniformed anonymity, shaved heads, white shirts, English suits, making and exhibiting art as product without individual authorship, something inspired from the rigorous orthodoxy of Crass".

It featured clips from Labour-organised rock concerts, including the performances of Billy Bragg, Aswad and the Communards, extracts from Neil Kinnock’s speeches and interviews with young men and women about the misery of unemployment.

[19] In an essay written to accompany the exhibition, Mott describes the process of designing the album cover: "De La Soul visit our loft where we lay them down on the floor facing up, their heads making a triangle.

CD's [sic] have yet to be the dominant musical format so the vinyl album sleeve is our most effective way of making a statement [...] The intent of the design of De La Soul's, 3 Feet High and Rising LP cover is to be new and bright, with the overlaying of the fluorescent flowers and text reflecting a synthetic pop cartoon look [...] This is a move away from the prevailing macho hip hop visual codes which dominate to this day".

When GO disbanded in 1991, Toby Mott pursued a solo career[20] exhibiting at White Columns NYC, The Thomas Soloman Garage, Los Angeles and Interim Art, London.

Paul Spencer left New York City and returned to London in 1991, where he opened a wholesaler and retailer named Wong Singh Jones Ltd on Portobello Road.

Young members of Red Wedge wearing Grey Organisation t-shirts designed for the Labour Party , 1987.
De La Soul 's 3 Feet High and Rising , album cover by the Grey Organisation
GO ID Card, issued 1 February 1984