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© tracey moberly 20011030.TOut.jpg

TIME OUT -Tracey Sanders-Wood- LINE ART October 31 - November 7 2001

From tomorrow, 42 artists will take over an etire Picadilly Line train, filling all the advertising panels with works of art in a refreshing change from the usual dire plugs for car insurance and caffeine tablets . . . Brought together by Canadian-born pop artist Gordon McHarg, the international selection of artists, photographers, fashion designers, poets and musicians contributing their work for free including Jamie Reid, Joe Rush (founder of Mutoid Waste), Juergen Teller, Gavin Turk, Pam Hogg,Yoko Ono, John Cooper Clarke, Damien Hirst, The Mekons . . . 'I don't drive so I use the Underground a lot,' says McHarg. 'The advertising spaces are some of the most exciting places to show any piece of artwork.I liked the idea of putting the show where it wasn't meant to be - a moving gallery traveling 45 miles through London.' For the exhibition, each artist was asked (for a nominal sum) to produce two works, resulting in an eclectic mix of images, from Aidan Hughes' take on London Transport posters and Yoko Ono's white panels to Jo Rush's video stills and Colin self's poems. 'It's a group thing, about how can a group of artists in London take over a space and have some fun and get away with it,' McHarg continues. 'On the one hand, it's about fun, but it's also a very strong space to show art. hopefully it will be enjoyed by the 90 per cent of people who hadn't expected to go to an exhibition that day.' The Art-Tube will run through the 52 stations between Cockfosters and Heathrow or Uxbridge during November. With 76 trains on the line at peak times, you've got a 1.3 per cent chance of getting the Art-Tube, catch it if you can, or check out the website (www.art-tube.com), where you can also buy the limited-edition catalogue. 'They are there to provoke and make you think and not buy when you're on the tube.' Jamie Reid 'It's a nice place to put art; it kind of brightens it up. Everybody seems to be wanting to put art exhibitions everywhere. It's everywhere you look and it seems to be spreading. . . ' Corinne Day 'When asked to contribute I took into consideration the opportunity to create panels that incorporated images and words that subverted the format of product sales into one of ideal/idea diffusion.' Duggie Fields 'A great example of the power artists have to manipulate the cosmetic appearance of the city and how its idealogical anatomy may be understood.' John Spencer 'It's a logical extension of finding new sites for art in the way that advertising has done so well for years.' Gavin turk PHOTOGRAPHS: Page 1, from top: Juergen Teller; Hanan Magou; Pam Hogg; The Mekons; and Gordon McHarg