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Two posters have been commissioned by London Transport Museum depicting former Underground stations which are now abandoned. The Museum is hosting the Hidden London temporary exhibition featuring many disused stations and tunnels on the Underground and in addition runs tours to some of them. The famous linocut artist Gail Brodholt was commissioned to produce the poster artworks. Please follow this link to see more details of the Hidden London tours run by the Museum.
Gail Brodholt has commented on her commission.
‘I was delighted to be asked by London Transport to produce two posters to support their initiative, Hidden London, which aims to open up the secrets of disused parts of the London Underground network.
Two stations were to be featured. The first was the disused Strand/Aldwych underground station. This is a Grade II listed building designed by Leslie Green and opened in 1907. It was built in the archetypical red glazed tiles and semi-circular windows on the upper floor. I was struck by the contrast between the unused building sitting unnoticed on the Strand while the busy pedestrians and the roaring traffic of central London streamed by.
The second was Highgate High Level station which was built on top of Highgate tube station and served mainline services until it was closed in the 60s. What struck me most about this site was its secluded tranquillity just metres away from the teeming crowds using Highgate’s tube station. This is a real sanctuary for wildlife, with abandoned buildings being slowly reclaimed by advancing nature.
They were two very distinct and contrasting subjects, one station situated on a bustling street in Central London and the other abandoned to nature but so peaceful, requiring two very different approaches. I produced two large linocuts, both hand carved and hand printed by me using four blocks on each, with a different colour on each block.
As a linocut artist I was very pleased to be asked to following in the footsteps of the great transport poster designers of the past.’
By entering your email address, you will receive the latest London Transport Museum news, events, shopping and appeals, as well as contacting you occasionally to participate in audience research to help inform our activities. Your details will only be used by the Museum and suppliers working on our behalf and you can unsubscribe at any time. Your personal information will be properly safeguarded and processed in accordance with the requirements of privacy and data protection legislation.