Art on the Underground, previously called ''Platform for Art'', is Transport for London's (TfL) contemporary

public art Public art is art in any media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and physically acce ...

programme. It commissions permanent and temporary artworks for

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

, as well as commissioning artists to create covers for the Tube map, one of the largest public art commissions in the UK.

History

From the late 1900s, London Underground's Managing Director Frank Pick began commissioning leading artists and designers to work on poster campaigns for the rapidly expanding network. Pick also steered the development of the London Underground's

corporate identity A corporate identity or corporate image is the manner in which a corporation, firm or business enterprise presents itself to the public (such as customers and investors as well as employees). The corporate identity is typically visualized by ...

, establishing a highly recognisable brand such as the Underground

roundel A roundel is a circular disc used as a symbol. The term is used in heraldry, but also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of dif ...

, Johnston typeface and the tube map designed by

Harry Beck Henry Charles Beck (4 June 190218 September 1974) was an English technical draughtsman who created the present London Underground Tube map in 1931. Beck drew the diagram after being fired at the London Metro Signal Office. Although his design ...

. Following Pick, London Underground continued to commission artists to design advertising posters, or pieces of artwork for stations. However, this work was

ad hoc Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning literally 'to this'. In English, it typically signifies a solution for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances. (Compare with ''a priori''.) Com ...

, and usually project based. For example, as part of the building of the Victoria line in the 1960s, tiled artwork was installed in the seat recesses of all the stations - such as the cross containing a crown at King's Cross St Pancras, the 'tonne of bricks' at

Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th cent ...

and the Black Horse at Blackhorse Road. In the late 1980s, London Underground began commissioning artists as part of a programme to fill unsold advertising space with artwork. The 'Art on the Underground' series was usually focused on locations that could be reached by Underground. Posters were also available for purchase at the

London Transport Museum The London Transport Museum (often abbreviated as the LTM) is a transport museum based in Covent Garden, London. The museum predominantly hosts exhibits relating to the heritage of London's transport, as well as conserving and explaining the h ...

, bringing in additional revenue. In 2000, ''Platform for Art'' was launched, as a dedicated art programme for London Underground. Initially, the main focus was temporary artworks on the disused platform at Gloucester Road station. From 2004, artists have been commissioned to create covers for the Underground's Tube map. In 2007, ''Platform for Art'' was rebranded as Art on the Underground, with the aim of expanding the art programme to other temporary sites, as well as the commissioning of permanent artworks. The programme and its artworks have been critically acclaimed, with the programme winning a culture award by the International Association of Public Transport in 2009.

The programme

Art on the Underground commissions a wide range of temporary and permanent artworks, working with a wide range of British and international artists as well as the local community, passengers and TfL staff. Proposed artworks are reviewed by an Advisory Board of TfL and

Greater London Authority The Greater London Authority (GLA), colloquially known by the metonym "City Hall", is the devolved regional governance body of Greater London. It consists of two political branches: the executive Mayoralty (currently led by Sadiq Khan) and t ...

staff, as well as art experts. The programme is funded by Transport for London, although other funding sources such as

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...

and corporate sponsorship is used for some commissions.

Temporary artworks

Since 2000, an entire disused platform at Gloucester Road station has used as a backdrop for temporary exhibitions including sculptures, murals or photographs. The first piece commissioned for Gloucester Road was an Elephant sculpture by

Kendra Haste Kendra Haste (born 1971) is a British wildlife artist who produces both public and privately commissioned sculpture using galvanised chicken wire mesh to create wire sculptures of wild animals. She is a member of the Society of Wildlife Artists ...

, which is now on permanent display at Waterloo tube station. Artists displayed at Gloucester Road have included David Shrigley, Chiho Aoshima and Brian Griffiths. In 2018, British artist Heather Phillipson filled the 80m platform with egg sculptures and video screens in an installation titled "my name is lettie eggsyrub", to critical acclaim. Since 2018, the Brixton station entrance known as the "Brixton Header Wall" has been the location of temporary murals, following the legacy of the Brixton murals in the 1980s. Artists have included

Njideka Akunyili Crosby Njideka Akunyili Crosby (born 1983) is a Nigerian-born visual artist working in Los Angeles, California. Through her art Akunyili Crosby "negotiates the cultural terrain between her adopted home in America and her native Nigeria, creating collag ...

Aliza Nisenbaum Aliza Nisenbaum (born 1977, Mexico City) is a painter living and working in New York, NY. She is best known for her colorful paintings of Mexican and Central American immigrants. She is a professor at Columbia University's School of the Arts. Ed ...

, Denzil Forrester and

Joy Labinjo Joy Labinjo is a British–Nigerian artist based in London, England. Born in 1994, she is known for her large colorful figure paintings with flattened perspective that take inspiration from her collection of old family photos, found photos and ...

. Other temporary works at stations have included the reimaging of the iconic Tube roundel in Pan African colours by Larry Achiampong at Westminster station, a temporary screen at Canary Wharf station showing video and films and "The Bower of Bliss" by Linder - a 85 metre long billboard outside Southwark station. Other temporary works have been located across the network, such as Laure Prouvost's 2019 work that infiltrated advertising poster sites across all 270 stations, or the #LondonIsOpen campaign in the aftermath of the 2016 EU membership referendum. Art on the Underground has also commissioned temporary artworks focused on one tube line. The most recent commission, 'Underline' - Art & Music for the Victoria Line, was focused on the Victoria Line between 2015-16, and featured artists and musicians such as Giles Round, Matt Rogers, Liam Gillick and Assemble. Previous line wide temporary projects include 'Thin Cities' on the

Piccadilly line The Piccadilly line is a deep-level London Underground line running from the north to the west of London. It has two branches, which split at Acton Town, and serves 53 stations. The line serves Heathrow Airport, and some of its stations are ...

, 'One Thing Leads to Another - Everything is Connected' on the

Jubilee line The Jubilee line is a London Underground line that runs between in east London and in the suburban north-west, via the Docklands, South Bank and West End. Opened in 1979, it is the newest line on the Underground network, although some secti ...

and the 'Central Line Series' on the Central line.

Permanent artworks

Art on the Underground also commissions new permanent pieces of artwork for London Underground - usually in conjunction with major expansion or upgrades of stations. The first permanent piece of artwork since the 1980s was commissioned in 2007, as part of the redevelopment of King's Cross St Pancras. Other recent permanent pieces include “Diamonds and Circle” permanent works “in situ”, a vast artwork in

Tottenham Court Road Tottenham Court Road (occasionally abbreviated as TCR) is a major road in Central London, almost entirely within the London Borough of Camden. The road runs from Euston Road in the north to St Giles Circus in the south; Tottenham Court Road t ...

by French conceptual artist

Daniel Buren Daniel Buren (born 25 March 1938, in Boulogne-Billancourt) is a French conceptual artist, painter, and sculptor. He has won numerous awards including the Golden Lion for best pavilion at the Venice Biennale (1986), the International Award for ...

, “Beauty < Immortality”, a memorial to Frank Pick by Langlands & Bell in Piccadilly Circus and "Pleasure's Inaccuracies" by

Lucy McKenzie Lucy McKenzie (born 1977) is a British artist based in Brussels. Biography Born in Glasgow, Scotland, McKenzie studied for her BA at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee from 1995–1999 and at Karlsruhe Kunstakademie in Ger ...

at Sudbury Town. Art on the Underground also promotes historical artwork pieces located across the Underground, such as Eduardo Paolozzi's 1980s mosaics at Tottenham Court Road. In 2013, Turner Prize winning artist Mark Wallinger was commissioned to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the London Underground. The resulting piece - "Labyrinth”, is a multi site artwork that was installed in all 270 Underground stations. As part of the

Northern line extension to Battersea The Northern line extension to Battersea is an extension of the London Underground from to Battersea in South West London, terminating at the redeveloped Battersea Power Station. The extension formed a continuation of the Northern line's br ...

, a permanent artwork was commissioned at Battersea Power Station from artist

Alexandre da Cunha Alexandre da Cunha (born 1969) is a Brazilian-British artist, who produces sculpture and wall mounted works, often using found objects. His works have been exhibited around the world, and are located in several major public collections. Biogra ...

Tube map covers

The programme commissions artists to create covers for London Underground's pocket Tube map. These free maps are one of the largest public art commissions in the UK, with millions of copies printed. Over 35 different designs have been produced, from a wide variety of British and international artists such as Rachel Whiteread,

Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese contemporary artist who works primarily in sculpture and installation, and is also active in painting, performance, video art, fashion, poetry, fiction, and other arts. Her work is based in conceptual art and shows some attribute ...

Tracey Emin Tracey Karima Emin, CBE, RA (; born 3 July 1963) is a British artist known for her autobiographical and confessional artwork. Emin produces work in a variety of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, film, photography, neon text and ...

and

Community maps

A map of Art on the Underground artwork locations was published in 2016 as th
Art Map
The project has also generated maps within local communities such as a
Brixton Mural Map
' in 2018 and the
Brixton Botanical Map
' in 2022. These were available for free at tube stations as well as being published as PDFs for download online.

References

External links

Official website
{{Public art in London, other works Art exhibitions in London Transport design in London London Underground in popular culture 2000 introductions Public art in London