Stephen Walter, most famous for his “Hub” map of London, a fantastically detailed hand drawn map of London with a distinctive repeating style and thousands of anecdotes drawn into it, has a solo exhibition at Londonewcastle in Shoreditch, for the next month. As well as his London “patchwork quilt” maps, the exhibition includes some other artwork such as a sea of bicycles, and more abstract “icon” artworks, of which an extract of one is below. The extract above is from London Subterranea, a commission for the Transport Museum, which focuses on networks and features below ground. The tube lines are shown inverted, so the DLR (in the extract here) appears to emerge from the earth at the point it actually goes underground.
Another highlight, which takes up an entire wall at the exhibition, is extracts of “Hub” for each of London’s 32 boroughs and the City, each individually framed and then arranged on the wall pseudogeographically.
The gallery space itself has a minimalist industrial feel to it, which complements the largely black-and-white pencil-drawn work that is Stephen’s signature style. The exhibition is free and definitely worth taking the time to visit. It closes on 27 July.
Thanks to TAG Fine Arts for inviting Mapping London to the exhibition preview.
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