View Subterranea 8: Bethnal Green

Description

One of a series of original wood engravings exploring the dynamic atmosphere and distinctive architecture of the London Underground. This piece depicts Bethnal Green station on the Central line – quiet, save for a lone figure and the distant glow of a train’s lights in the tunnel. As a former Tube commuter, the artist is conscious that – packed full of busy travellers every day – the Underground can very easily be taken for granted. By choosing unusual angles and perspectives of near-deserted stations, her aim in this series of artworks is to help the viewer to rediscover and better appreciate these incredible subterranean man-made structures. In some of these pieces the artist has substituted great artworks for the stations’ advertisement posters. In this case, Edvard Munch’s The Scream echoes a tragic episode in Bethnal Green station’s history, when it was used as an air raid shelter during World II. On 3 March 1943, 173 people lost their lives in a crush while descending the steps into the shelter. Note: actual image size is14x17cm. Hand-printed on a larger sheet of paper with at least 5cm margins on all sides to allow for mounting and framing.