Elizabeth Line: Integrating Art and Infrastructure (Part 1)
In the first of two articles, we look at the public artworks on display on the Underground's latest addition...
May 30, 2022
After nearly a 4 year delay and at a cost of £19 billion, the Elizabeth Line is (pretty much) complete, calling at almost all stops and open to the public! Not only does this regally decorated purple line take you from Reading in the west all the way to Essex in the east, but is also now home to the most ambitious and versatile commission of art available to the public. In collaboration with Crossrail engineers and architects, some of the biggest names in 21century art have developed specific and unique pieces for the station’s locations. This new line is not only a public transport masterpiece but also an exhibition that celebrates the narrative of London and the communities that call it home.
Whitechapel: Chantal Joffe
Chantal Joffe is an English artist based in east London. She specialises in figurative art, bringing intuition and veracity to her pieces, all brimming with an unbounded emotional and psychological energy. The works commissioned for Whitechapel underground, courtesy of the artist and gallery Victoria Miro, are no different; Characteristic to her style, the works are figurative illustrations that have been enlarged in laser cut aluminium. Whitechapel is a bubbling pot of diversity, a vividly beautiful community with an electric atmosphere, and Joffe’s ambition in her works is to bring the life over ground to the underground, allowing the energy and vitality above the platforms to filter through the concrete and into the station. Thirty metres below street level, Joffe’s art spans the arched walls of the underground creating a multicultural mural that shows the people of East London at leisure.
Newham Trackside: Sonia Boyce
Sonia Boyce is a British Afro-Caribbean artist, based and working in London at the University of the Arts as a Professor of Black Art and Design, who this year represented Britain at the Venice Biennale 2022. Her contribution to the Elizabeth line is a large-scale artwork that runs 1.9km long, making it one of the most extensive works commissioned in the UK to date. A key focus in this creation was engagement with the communities of North Woolwich, Silvertown and Custom House, and the residents’ collaboration with the project allowed Boyce to draw out the unique cultural history of the area. The Newham Trackside Wall is an extensive storytelling piece that utilises the voices of local people of all ages and backgrounds to communicate the events and characters that have shaped their neighbourhood to commuters.
Farringdon: Simon Periton
Simon Periton is a British artist who lives and works in London whose work incorporates sculpture, installation and painting. Periton’s sculptures are intricate and delicate, and for the Crossrail project he has drawn upon his style and combined it with inspiration from the surrounding area of Farringdon. He has created two works for the Elizabeth Line: the first, titled Avalanche, is inspired by the diamond district in nearby Hatton Garden, and features a spectacular sequence of gems that appear to trickle and tumble along the walls of the station. Embedded in the exteriors of Farringdon station is the second work by Periton, titled Spectre, a visual homage to the commercial and artisanal history of Smithfield Market. The power of specific geographic commissioning has lit up Farringdon with a new artistic charge.
It has been a long wait for the Elizabeth line but the artistically inclined amongst us surely agree that it has been worth the wait; the Elizabeth line is a commuter’s phenomenon embellished with perhaps one of the UK’s grandest public galleries.
After nearly a 4 year delay and at a cost of £19 billion, the Elizabeth Line is (pretty much) complete, calling at almost all stops and open to the public! Not only does this regally decorated purple line take you from Reading in the west all the way to Essex in the east, but is also now home to the most ambitious and versatile commission of art available to the public. In collaboration with Crossrail engineers and architects, some of the biggest names in 21century art have developed specific and unique pieces for the station’s locations. This new line is not only a public transport masterpiece but also an exhibition that celebrates the narrative of London and the communities that call it home.
Whitechapel: Chantal Joffe
Chantal Joffe is an English artist based in east London. She specialises in figurative art, bringing intuition and veracity to her pieces, all brimming with an unbounded emotional and psychological energy. The works commissioned for Whitechapel underground, courtesy of the artist and gallery Victoria Miro, are no different; Characteristic to her style, the works are figurative illustrations that have been enlarged in laser cut aluminium. Whitechapel is a bubbling pot of diversity, a vividly beautiful community with an electric atmosphere, and Joffe’s ambition in her works is to bring the life over ground to the underground, allowing the energy and vitality above the platforms to filter through the concrete and into the station. Thirty metres below street level, Joffe’s art spans the arched walls of the underground creating a multicultural mural that shows the people of East London at leisure.
Newham Trackside: Sonia Boyce
Sonia Boyce is a British Afro-Caribbean artist, based and working in London at the University of the Arts as a Professor of Black Art and Design, who this year represented Britain at the Venice Biennale 2022. Her contribution to the Elizabeth line is a large-scale artwork that runs 1.9km long, making it one of the most extensive works commissioned in the UK to date. A key focus in this creation was engagement with the communities of North Woolwich, Silvertown and Custom House, and the residents’ collaboration with the project allowed Boyce to draw out the unique cultural history of the area. The Newham Trackside Wall is an extensive storytelling piece that utilises the voices of local people of all ages and backgrounds to communicate the events and characters that have shaped their neighbourhood to commuters.
Farringdon: Simon Periton
Simon Periton is a British artist who lives and works in London whose work incorporates sculpture, installation and painting. Periton’s sculptures are intricate and delicate, and for the Crossrail project he has drawn upon his style and combined it with inspiration from the surrounding area of Farringdon. He has created two works for the Elizabeth Line: the first, titled Avalanche, is inspired by the diamond district in nearby Hatton Garden, and features a spectacular sequence of gems that appear to trickle and tumble along the walls of the station. Embedded in the exteriors of Farringdon station is the second work by Periton, titled Spectre, a visual homage to the commercial and artisanal history of Smithfield Market. The power of specific geographic commissioning has lit up Farringdon with a new artistic charge.
It has been a long wait for the Elizabeth line but the artistically inclined amongst us surely agree that it has been worth the wait; the Elizabeth line is a commuter’s phenomenon embellished with perhaps one of the UK’s grandest public galleries.
After nearly a 4 year delay and at a cost of £19 billion, the Elizabeth Line is (pretty much) complete, calling at almost all stops and open to the public! Not only does this regally decorated purple line take you from Reading in the west all the way to Essex in the east, but is also now home to the most ambitious and versatile commission of art available to the public. In collaboration with Crossrail engineers and architects, some of the biggest names in 21century art have developed specific and unique pieces for the station’s locations. This new line is not only a public transport masterpiece but also an exhibition that celebrates the narrative of London and the communities that call it home.
Whitechapel: Chantal Joffe
Chantal Joffe is an English artist based in east London. She specialises in figurative art, bringing intuition and veracity to her pieces, all brimming with an unbounded emotional and psychological energy. The works commissioned for Whitechapel underground, courtesy of the artist and gallery Victoria Miro, are no different; Characteristic to her style, the works are figurative illustrations that have been enlarged in laser cut aluminium. Whitechapel is a bubbling pot of diversity, a vividly beautiful community with an electric atmosphere, and Joffe’s ambition in her works is to bring the life over ground to the underground, allowing the energy and vitality above the platforms to filter through the concrete and into the station. Thirty metres below street level, Joffe’s art spans the arched walls of the underground creating a multicultural mural that shows the people of East London at leisure.
Newham Trackside: Sonia Boyce
Sonia Boyce is a British Afro-Caribbean artist, based and working in London at the University of the Arts as a Professor of Black Art and Design, who this year represented Britain at the Venice Biennale 2022. Her contribution to the Elizabeth line is a large-scale artwork that runs 1.9km long, making it one of the most extensive works commissioned in the UK to date. A key focus in this creation was engagement with the communities of North Woolwich, Silvertown and Custom House, and the residents’ collaboration with the project allowed Boyce to draw out the unique cultural history of the area. The Newham Trackside Wall is an extensive storytelling piece that utilises the voices of local people of all ages and backgrounds to communicate the events and characters that have shaped their neighbourhood to commuters.
Farringdon: Simon Periton
Simon Periton is a British artist who lives and works in London whose work incorporates sculpture, installation and painting. Periton’s sculptures are intricate and delicate, and for the Crossrail project he has drawn upon his style and combined it with inspiration from the surrounding area of Farringdon. He has created two works for the Elizabeth Line: the first, titled Avalanche, is inspired by the diamond district in nearby Hatton Garden, and features a spectacular sequence of gems that appear to trickle and tumble along the walls of the station. Embedded in the exteriors of Farringdon station is the second work by Periton, titled Spectre, a visual homage to the commercial and artisanal history of Smithfield Market. The power of specific geographic commissioning has lit up Farringdon with a new artistic charge.
It has been a long wait for the Elizabeth line but the artistically inclined amongst us surely agree that it has been worth the wait; the Elizabeth line is a commuter’s phenomenon embellished with perhaps one of the UK’s grandest public galleries.
After nearly a 4 year delay and at a cost of £19 billion, the Elizabeth Line is (pretty much) complete, calling at almost all stops and open to the public! Not only does this regally decorated purple line take you from Reading in the west all the way to Essex in the east, but is also now home to the most ambitious and versatile commission of art available to the public. In collaboration with Crossrail engineers and architects, some of the biggest names in 21century art have developed specific and unique pieces for the station’s locations. This new line is not only a public transport masterpiece but also an exhibition that celebrates the narrative of London and the communities that call it home.
Whitechapel: Chantal Joffe
Chantal Joffe is an English artist based in east London. She specialises in figurative art, bringing intuition and veracity to her pieces, all brimming with an unbounded emotional and psychological energy. The works commissioned for Whitechapel underground, courtesy of the artist and gallery Victoria Miro, are no different; Characteristic to her style, the works are figurative illustrations that have been enlarged in laser cut aluminium. Whitechapel is a bubbling pot of diversity, a vividly beautiful community with an electric atmosphere, and Joffe’s ambition in her works is to bring the life over ground to the underground, allowing the energy and vitality above the platforms to filter through the concrete and into the station. Thirty metres below street level, Joffe’s art spans the arched walls of the underground creating a multicultural mural that shows the people of East London at leisure.
Newham Trackside: Sonia Boyce
Sonia Boyce is a British Afro-Caribbean artist, based and working in London at the University of the Arts as a Professor of Black Art and Design, who this year represented Britain at the Venice Biennale 2022. Her contribution to the Elizabeth line is a large-scale artwork that runs 1.9km long, making it one of the most extensive works commissioned in the UK to date. A key focus in this creation was engagement with the communities of North Woolwich, Silvertown and Custom House, and the residents’ collaboration with the project allowed Boyce to draw out the unique cultural history of the area. The Newham Trackside Wall is an extensive storytelling piece that utilises the voices of local people of all ages and backgrounds to communicate the events and characters that have shaped their neighbourhood to commuters.
Farringdon: Simon Periton
Simon Periton is a British artist who lives and works in London whose work incorporates sculpture, installation and painting. Periton’s sculptures are intricate and delicate, and for the Crossrail project he has drawn upon his style and combined it with inspiration from the surrounding area of Farringdon. He has created two works for the Elizabeth Line: the first, titled Avalanche, is inspired by the diamond district in nearby Hatton Garden, and features a spectacular sequence of gems that appear to trickle and tumble along the walls of the station. Embedded in the exteriors of Farringdon station is the second work by Periton, titled Spectre, a visual homage to the commercial and artisanal history of Smithfield Market. The power of specific geographic commissioning has lit up Farringdon with a new artistic charge.
It has been a long wait for the Elizabeth line but the artistically inclined amongst us surely agree that it has been worth the wait; the Elizabeth line is a commuter’s phenomenon embellished with perhaps one of the UK’s grandest public galleries.
After nearly a 4 year delay and at a cost of £19 billion, the Elizabeth Line is (pretty much) complete, calling at almost all stops and open to the public! Not only does this regally decorated purple line take you from Reading in the west all the way to Essex in the east, but is also now home to the most ambitious and versatile commission of art available to the public. In collaboration with Crossrail engineers and architects, some of the biggest names in 21century art have developed specific and unique pieces for the station’s locations. This new line is not only a public transport masterpiece but also an exhibition that celebrates the narrative of London and the communities that call it home.
Whitechapel: Chantal Joffe
Chantal Joffe is an English artist based in east London. She specialises in figurative art, bringing intuition and veracity to her pieces, all brimming with an unbounded emotional and psychological energy. The works commissioned for Whitechapel underground, courtesy of the artist and gallery Victoria Miro, are no different; Characteristic to her style, the works are figurative illustrations that have been enlarged in laser cut aluminium. Whitechapel is a bubbling pot of diversity, a vividly beautiful community with an electric atmosphere, and Joffe’s ambition in her works is to bring the life over ground to the underground, allowing the energy and vitality above the platforms to filter through the concrete and into the station. Thirty metres below street level, Joffe’s art spans the arched walls of the underground creating a multicultural mural that shows the people of East London at leisure.
Newham Trackside: Sonia Boyce
Sonia Boyce is a British Afro-Caribbean artist, based and working in London at the University of the Arts as a Professor of Black Art and Design, who this year represented Britain at the Venice Biennale 2022. Her contribution to the Elizabeth line is a large-scale artwork that runs 1.9km long, making it one of the most extensive works commissioned in the UK to date. A key focus in this creation was engagement with the communities of North Woolwich, Silvertown and Custom House, and the residents’ collaboration with the project allowed Boyce to draw out the unique cultural history of the area. The Newham Trackside Wall is an extensive storytelling piece that utilises the voices of local people of all ages and backgrounds to communicate the events and characters that have shaped their neighbourhood to commuters.
Farringdon: Simon Periton
Simon Periton is a British artist who lives and works in London whose work incorporates sculpture, installation and painting. Periton’s sculptures are intricate and delicate, and for the Crossrail project he has drawn upon his style and combined it with inspiration from the surrounding area of Farringdon. He has created two works for the Elizabeth Line: the first, titled Avalanche, is inspired by the diamond district in nearby Hatton Garden, and features a spectacular sequence of gems that appear to trickle and tumble along the walls of the station. Embedded in the exteriors of Farringdon station is the second work by Periton, titled Spectre, a visual homage to the commercial and artisanal history of Smithfield Market. The power of specific geographic commissioning has lit up Farringdon with a new artistic charge.
It has been a long wait for the Elizabeth line but the artistically inclined amongst us surely agree that it has been worth the wait; the Elizabeth line is a commuter’s phenomenon embellished with perhaps one of the UK’s grandest public galleries.
After nearly a 4 year delay and at a cost of £19 billion, the Elizabeth Line is (pretty much) complete, calling at almost all stops and open to the public! Not only does this regally decorated purple line take you from Reading in the west all the way to Essex in the east, but is also now home to the most ambitious and versatile commission of art available to the public. In collaboration with Crossrail engineers and architects, some of the biggest names in 21century art have developed specific and unique pieces for the station’s locations. This new line is not only a public transport masterpiece but also an exhibition that celebrates the narrative of London and the communities that call it home.
Whitechapel: Chantal Joffe
Chantal Joffe is an English artist based in east London. She specialises in figurative art, bringing intuition and veracity to her pieces, all brimming with an unbounded emotional and psychological energy. The works commissioned for Whitechapel underground, courtesy of the artist and gallery Victoria Miro, are no different; Characteristic to her style, the works are figurative illustrations that have been enlarged in laser cut aluminium. Whitechapel is a bubbling pot of diversity, a vividly beautiful community with an electric atmosphere, and Joffe’s ambition in her works is to bring the life over ground to the underground, allowing the energy and vitality above the platforms to filter through the concrete and into the station. Thirty metres below street level, Joffe’s art spans the arched walls of the underground creating a multicultural mural that shows the people of East London at leisure.
Newham Trackside: Sonia Boyce
Sonia Boyce is a British Afro-Caribbean artist, based and working in London at the University of the Arts as a Professor of Black Art and Design, who this year represented Britain at the Venice Biennale 2022. Her contribution to the Elizabeth line is a large-scale artwork that runs 1.9km long, making it one of the most extensive works commissioned in the UK to date. A key focus in this creation was engagement with the communities of North Woolwich, Silvertown and Custom House, and the residents’ collaboration with the project allowed Boyce to draw out the unique cultural history of the area. The Newham Trackside Wall is an extensive storytelling piece that utilises the voices of local people of all ages and backgrounds to communicate the events and characters that have shaped their neighbourhood to commuters.
Farringdon: Simon Periton
Simon Periton is a British artist who lives and works in London whose work incorporates sculpture, installation and painting. Periton’s sculptures are intricate and delicate, and for the Crossrail project he has drawn upon his style and combined it with inspiration from the surrounding area of Farringdon. He has created two works for the Elizabeth Line: the first, titled Avalanche, is inspired by the diamond district in nearby Hatton Garden, and features a spectacular sequence of gems that appear to trickle and tumble along the walls of the station. Embedded in the exteriors of Farringdon station is the second work by Periton, titled Spectre, a visual homage to the commercial and artisanal history of Smithfield Market. The power of specific geographic commissioning has lit up Farringdon with a new artistic charge.
It has been a long wait for the Elizabeth line but the artistically inclined amongst us surely agree that it has been worth the wait; the Elizabeth line is a commuter’s phenomenon embellished with perhaps one of the UK’s grandest public galleries.
After nearly a 4 year delay and at a cost of £19 billion, the Elizabeth Line is (pretty much) complete, calling at almost all stops and open to the public! Not only does this regally decorated purple line take you from Reading in the west all the way to Essex in the east, but is also now home to the most ambitious and versatile commission of art available to the public. In collaboration with Crossrail engineers and architects, some of the biggest names in 21century art have developed specific and unique pieces for the station’s locations. This new line is not only a public transport masterpiece but also an exhibition that celebrates the narrative of London and the communities that call it home.
Whitechapel: Chantal Joffe
Chantal Joffe is an English artist based in east London. She specialises in figurative art, bringing intuition and veracity to her pieces, all brimming with an unbounded emotional and psychological energy. The works commissioned for Whitechapel underground, courtesy of the artist and gallery Victoria Miro, are no different; Characteristic to her style, the works are figurative illustrations that have been enlarged in laser cut aluminium. Whitechapel is a bubbling pot of diversity, a vividly beautiful community with an electric atmosphere, and Joffe’s ambition in her works is to bring the life over ground to the underground, allowing the energy and vitality above the platforms to filter through the concrete and into the station. Thirty metres below street level, Joffe’s art spans the arched walls of the underground creating a multicultural mural that shows the people of East London at leisure.
Newham Trackside: Sonia Boyce
Sonia Boyce is a British Afro-Caribbean artist, based and working in London at the University of the Arts as a Professor of Black Art and Design, who this year represented Britain at the Venice Biennale 2022. Her contribution to the Elizabeth line is a large-scale artwork that runs 1.9km long, making it one of the most extensive works commissioned in the UK to date. A key focus in this creation was engagement with the communities of North Woolwich, Silvertown and Custom House, and the residents’ collaboration with the project allowed Boyce to draw out the unique cultural history of the area. The Newham Trackside Wall is an extensive storytelling piece that utilises the voices of local people of all ages and backgrounds to communicate the events and characters that have shaped their neighbourhood to commuters.
Farringdon: Simon Periton
Simon Periton is a British artist who lives and works in London whose work incorporates sculpture, installation and painting. Periton’s sculptures are intricate and delicate, and for the Crossrail project he has drawn upon his style and combined it with inspiration from the surrounding area of Farringdon. He has created two works for the Elizabeth Line: the first, titled Avalanche, is inspired by the diamond district in nearby Hatton Garden, and features a spectacular sequence of gems that appear to trickle and tumble along the walls of the station. Embedded in the exteriors of Farringdon station is the second work by Periton, titled Spectre, a visual homage to the commercial and artisanal history of Smithfield Market. The power of specific geographic commissioning has lit up Farringdon with a new artistic charge.
It has been a long wait for the Elizabeth line but the artistically inclined amongst us surely agree that it has been worth the wait; the Elizabeth line is a commuter’s phenomenon embellished with perhaps one of the UK’s grandest public galleries.
After nearly a 4 year delay and at a cost of £19 billion, the Elizabeth Line is (pretty much) complete, calling at almost all stops and open to the public! Not only does this regally decorated purple line take you from Reading in the west all the way to Essex in the east, but is also now home to the most ambitious and versatile commission of art available to the public. In collaboration with Crossrail engineers and architects, some of the biggest names in 21century art have developed specific and unique pieces for the station’s locations. This new line is not only a public transport masterpiece but also an exhibition that celebrates the narrative of London and the communities that call it home.
Whitechapel: Chantal Joffe
Chantal Joffe is an English artist based in east London. She specialises in figurative art, bringing intuition and veracity to her pieces, all brimming with an unbounded emotional and psychological energy. The works commissioned for Whitechapel underground, courtesy of the artist and gallery Victoria Miro, are no different; Characteristic to her style, the works are figurative illustrations that have been enlarged in laser cut aluminium. Whitechapel is a bubbling pot of diversity, a vividly beautiful community with an electric atmosphere, and Joffe’s ambition in her works is to bring the life over ground to the underground, allowing the energy and vitality above the platforms to filter through the concrete and into the station. Thirty metres below street level, Joffe’s art spans the arched walls of the underground creating a multicultural mural that shows the people of East London at leisure.
Newham Trackside: Sonia Boyce
Sonia Boyce is a British Afro-Caribbean artist, based and working in London at the University of the Arts as a Professor of Black Art and Design, who this year represented Britain at the Venice Biennale 2022. Her contribution to the Elizabeth line is a large-scale artwork that runs 1.9km long, making it one of the most extensive works commissioned in the UK to date. A key focus in this creation was engagement with the communities of North Woolwich, Silvertown and Custom House, and the residents’ collaboration with the project allowed Boyce to draw out the unique cultural history of the area. The Newham Trackside Wall is an extensive storytelling piece that utilises the voices of local people of all ages and backgrounds to communicate the events and characters that have shaped their neighbourhood to commuters.
Farringdon: Simon Periton
Simon Periton is a British artist who lives and works in London whose work incorporates sculpture, installation and painting. Periton’s sculptures are intricate and delicate, and for the Crossrail project he has drawn upon his style and combined it with inspiration from the surrounding area of Farringdon. He has created two works for the Elizabeth Line: the first, titled Avalanche, is inspired by the diamond district in nearby Hatton Garden, and features a spectacular sequence of gems that appear to trickle and tumble along the walls of the station. Embedded in the exteriors of Farringdon station is the second work by Periton, titled Spectre, a visual homage to the commercial and artisanal history of Smithfield Market. The power of specific geographic commissioning has lit up Farringdon with a new artistic charge.
It has been a long wait for the Elizabeth line but the artistically inclined amongst us surely agree that it has been worth the wait; the Elizabeth line is a commuter’s phenomenon embellished with perhaps one of the UK’s grandest public galleries.
After nearly a 4 year delay and at a cost of £19 billion, the Elizabeth Line is (pretty much) complete, calling at almost all stops and open to the public! Not only does this regally decorated purple line take you from Reading in the west all the way to Essex in the east, but is also now home to the most ambitious and versatile commission of art available to the public. In collaboration with Crossrail engineers and architects, some of the biggest names in 21century art have developed specific and unique pieces for the station’s locations. This new line is not only a public transport masterpiece but also an exhibition that celebrates the narrative of London and the communities that call it home.
Whitechapel: Chantal Joffe
Chantal Joffe is an English artist based in east London. She specialises in figurative art, bringing intuition and veracity to her pieces, all brimming with an unbounded emotional and psychological energy. The works commissioned for Whitechapel underground, courtesy of the artist and gallery Victoria Miro, are no different; Characteristic to her style, the works are figurative illustrations that have been enlarged in laser cut aluminium. Whitechapel is a bubbling pot of diversity, a vividly beautiful community with an electric atmosphere, and Joffe’s ambition in her works is to bring the life over ground to the underground, allowing the energy and vitality above the platforms to filter through the concrete and into the station. Thirty metres below street level, Joffe’s art spans the arched walls of the underground creating a multicultural mural that shows the people of East London at leisure.
Newham Trackside: Sonia Boyce
Sonia Boyce is a British Afro-Caribbean artist, based and working in London at the University of the Arts as a Professor of Black Art and Design, who this year represented Britain at the Venice Biennale 2022. Her contribution to the Elizabeth line is a large-scale artwork that runs 1.9km long, making it one of the most extensive works commissioned in the UK to date. A key focus in this creation was engagement with the communities of North Woolwich, Silvertown and Custom House, and the residents’ collaboration with the project allowed Boyce to draw out the unique cultural history of the area. The Newham Trackside Wall is an extensive storytelling piece that utilises the voices of local people of all ages and backgrounds to communicate the events and characters that have shaped their neighbourhood to commuters.
Farringdon: Simon Periton
Simon Periton is a British artist who lives and works in London whose work incorporates sculpture, installation and painting. Periton’s sculptures are intricate and delicate, and for the Crossrail project he has drawn upon his style and combined it with inspiration from the surrounding area of Farringdon. He has created two works for the Elizabeth Line: the first, titled Avalanche, is inspired by the diamond district in nearby Hatton Garden, and features a spectacular sequence of gems that appear to trickle and tumble along the walls of the station. Embedded in the exteriors of Farringdon station is the second work by Periton, titled Spectre, a visual homage to the commercial and artisanal history of Smithfield Market. The power of specific geographic commissioning has lit up Farringdon with a new artistic charge.
It has been a long wait for the Elizabeth line but the artistically inclined amongst us surely agree that it has been worth the wait; the Elizabeth line is a commuter’s phenomenon embellished with perhaps one of the UK’s grandest public galleries.
After nearly a 4 year delay and at a cost of £19 billion, the Elizabeth Line is (pretty much) complete, calling at almost all stops and open to the public! Not only does this regally decorated purple line take you from Reading in the west all the way to Essex in the east, but is also now home to the most ambitious and versatile commission of art available to the public. In collaboration with Crossrail engineers and architects, some of the biggest names in 21century art have developed specific and unique pieces for the station’s locations. This new line is not only a public transport masterpiece but also an exhibition that celebrates the narrative of London and the communities that call it home.
Whitechapel: Chantal Joffe
Chantal Joffe is an English artist based in east London. She specialises in figurative art, bringing intuition and veracity to her pieces, all brimming with an unbounded emotional and psychological energy. The works commissioned for Whitechapel underground, courtesy of the artist and gallery Victoria Miro, are no different; Characteristic to her style, the works are figurative illustrations that have been enlarged in laser cut aluminium. Whitechapel is a bubbling pot of diversity, a vividly beautiful community with an electric atmosphere, and Joffe’s ambition in her works is to bring the life over ground to the underground, allowing the energy and vitality above the platforms to filter through the concrete and into the station. Thirty metres below street level, Joffe’s art spans the arched walls of the underground creating a multicultural mural that shows the people of East London at leisure.
Newham Trackside: Sonia Boyce
Sonia Boyce is a British Afro-Caribbean artist, based and working in London at the University of the Arts as a Professor of Black Art and Design, who this year represented Britain at the Venice Biennale 2022. Her contribution to the Elizabeth line is a large-scale artwork that runs 1.9km long, making it one of the most extensive works commissioned in the UK to date. A key focus in this creation was engagement with the communities of North Woolwich, Silvertown and Custom House, and the residents’ collaboration with the project allowed Boyce to draw out the unique cultural history of the area. The Newham Trackside Wall is an extensive storytelling piece that utilises the voices of local people of all ages and backgrounds to communicate the events and characters that have shaped their neighbourhood to commuters.
Farringdon: Simon Periton
Simon Periton is a British artist who lives and works in London whose work incorporates sculpture, installation and painting. Periton’s sculptures are intricate and delicate, and for the Crossrail project he has drawn upon his style and combined it with inspiration from the surrounding area of Farringdon. He has created two works for the Elizabeth Line: the first, titled Avalanche, is inspired by the diamond district in nearby Hatton Garden, and features a spectacular sequence of gems that appear to trickle and tumble along the walls of the station. Embedded in the exteriors of Farringdon station is the second work by Periton, titled Spectre, a visual homage to the commercial and artisanal history of Smithfield Market. The power of specific geographic commissioning has lit up Farringdon with a new artistic charge.
It has been a long wait for the Elizabeth line but the artistically inclined amongst us surely agree that it has been worth the wait; the Elizabeth line is a commuter’s phenomenon embellished with perhaps one of the UK’s grandest public galleries.
After nearly a 4 year delay and at a cost of £19 billion, the Elizabeth Line is (pretty much) complete, calling at almost all stops and open to the public! Not only does this regally decorated purple line take you from Reading in the west all the way to Essex in the east, but is also now home to the most ambitious and versatile commission of art available to the public. In collaboration with Crossrail engineers and architects, some of the biggest names in 21century art have developed specific and unique pieces for the station’s locations. This new line is not only a public transport masterpiece but also an exhibition that celebrates the narrative of London and the communities that call it home.
Whitechapel: Chantal Joffe
Chantal Joffe is an English artist based in east London. She specialises in figurative art, bringing intuition and veracity to her pieces, all brimming with an unbounded emotional and psychological energy. The works commissioned for Whitechapel underground, courtesy of the artist and gallery Victoria Miro, are no different; Characteristic to her style, the works are figurative illustrations that have been enlarged in laser cut aluminium. Whitechapel is a bubbling pot of diversity, a vividly beautiful community with an electric atmosphere, and Joffe’s ambition in her works is to bring the life over ground to the underground, allowing the energy and vitality above the platforms to filter through the concrete and into the station. Thirty metres below street level, Joffe’s art spans the arched walls of the underground creating a multicultural mural that shows the people of East London at leisure.
Newham Trackside: Sonia Boyce
Sonia Boyce is a British Afro-Caribbean artist, based and working in London at the University of the Arts as a Professor of Black Art and Design, who this year represented Britain at the Venice Biennale 2022. Her contribution to the Elizabeth line is a large-scale artwork that runs 1.9km long, making it one of the most extensive works commissioned in the UK to date. A key focus in this creation was engagement with the communities of North Woolwich, Silvertown and Custom House, and the residents’ collaboration with the project allowed Boyce to draw out the unique cultural history of the area. The Newham Trackside Wall is an extensive storytelling piece that utilises the voices of local people of all ages and backgrounds to communicate the events and characters that have shaped their neighbourhood to commuters.
Farringdon: Simon Periton
Simon Periton is a British artist who lives and works in London whose work incorporates sculpture, installation and painting. Periton’s sculptures are intricate and delicate, and for the Crossrail project he has drawn upon his style and combined it with inspiration from the surrounding area of Farringdon. He has created two works for the Elizabeth Line: the first, titled Avalanche, is inspired by the diamond district in nearby Hatton Garden, and features a spectacular sequence of gems that appear to trickle and tumble along the walls of the station. Embedded in the exteriors of Farringdon station is the second work by Periton, titled Spectre, a visual homage to the commercial and artisanal history of Smithfield Market. The power of specific geographic commissioning has lit up Farringdon with a new artistic charge.
It has been a long wait for the Elizabeth line but the artistically inclined amongst us surely agree that it has been worth the wait; the Elizabeth line is a commuter’s phenomenon embellished with perhaps one of the UK’s grandest public galleries.
