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<\/a><\/p>\nThe paintings are by Jock McFadyen, accompanied by an ambient underground soundtrack by Jem Finer.<\/p>\n
One of the paintings is of Bank tube station, showing an advertising space that had the adverts scraped off, leaving behind almost abstract art in their wake. Many of the other paintings echo this feeling, offering misty, slightly unfocused views of stations that resemble those battered poster frames \u2014 familiar, worn, and oddly beautiful.<\/p>\n
A small touch, but I quite liked how one painting folds around the corner of the gallery \u2013 quite a rare effect where paintings are almost always two-dimensional.<\/p>\n
The Underground scenes make up roughly half of the exhibition. The rest is displayed in a brighter adjoining room \u2014 almost as if you\u2019re emerging from the tunnels into daylight \u2014 and features the artist\u2019s landscapes instead.<\/p>\n Opening with a huge painting of the old Walthamstow Stadium, the second half is a mix of London landscapes and one rather odd but interesting combination of Mount Blanc and Bethnal Green.<\/p>\n What gives the paintings their interest is often the views chosen: man-made structures in seemingly empty landscapes \u2013 monoliths of concrete surrounded by scrubland.<\/p>\n Possibly, the combination of emptiness in the paintings and the lack of people creates a slight eeriness, as if looking at post-apocalyptic survivors in a blasted landscape.<\/p>\n Tube enthusiasts and fans of industrial landscapes will find plenty to enjoy here.<\/p>\n The exhibition, Underground (and Surface) Exhibition<\/a>, is at the Guildhall Art Gallery<\/a> in the City of London until 20th September 2026. It\u2019s free to visit on a pay-what-you-can basis.<\/p>\n It\u2019s open daily from 10am to 5pm, and is a short walk from Moorgate, Bank and St Paul\u2019s tube stations.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n