For the 26th edition of the pocket Tube map, Art on the Underground has commissioned Dutch artist Lily van der Stokker to create a new artwork – her first public commission in the UK.
For the commission van der Stokker has created a text piece about travelling on the Underground. The text is an observation of the stolen moments between strangers on the Tube: ‘out next stop’; ‘who is he’; ‘where do they go’.
Van der Stokker’s pieces always begin with small drawings, which usually transition into large, even monumental, wall drawings. However, for the Tube map cover she has retained this original scale.
For the Night Tube pocket map London-based Filipino artist Pio Abad has taken inspiration from an item he found in Transport for London’s Lost Property Office.
The stuffed gorilla, complete with his Hawaiian shirt, is one of the most unusual objects to be found on the London Underground and invites curiosity as to how he was forgotten. Eddie, as the gorilla is nicknamed by the staff at the Lost Property Office, becomes a mascot of the unexpected encounters of nocturnal London.
Pio’s cover will also be available as a limited edition artwork.
Both maps with their new covers will be available in stations from this Saturday (20th May 2017).
