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Wednesday 7 Oct 2020

Jimmy C’s window on London lights up railway wall near Blackfriars

Region & Route:

Southern: Kent

| Southern

International street artist Jimmy C has turned a wall near London Blackfriars station into a window to the London skyline.

Working with Network Rail, the work is one of the artist’s most detailed and took many months of preparation.

He said: “For me this is perhaps the ultimate wall I’ve painted in the 10 years I’ve been in London. It’s not just a significant location but this is my way of paying tribute to the city I love. I knew I wanted to paint a city scape, inspired by a painting I saw of London in the 1940s by an artist called David Bomberg*.

“It was a painting of St Paul’s after the Blitz and I thought, wow, here’s an artist depicting contemporary London as it was and I wondered who else was painting contemporary images of London today.

“I wanted to capture the energy and movement of London as well as making sure the architectural icons are there – those buildings we see as we navigate the city and we all recognise. I even used satellite imagery to get the buildings in the right places – I know what Londoners are like and they recognise the streets and the places they work. I hope by the way I’ve created the rhythms and movements, I’ve evoked the way people navigate the city and relate to it.”

Network Rail Southern Region has worked with artists across the network to turn walls and bridges into blank canvases, to improve the “face” of the railway to its neighbours and discourage vandalism. Jimmy C’s work can been seen on Network Rail walls locally on Cannon St railway bridge, a viaduct next to Borough Market, on Union St and in London Bridge station itself.

Southern Region managing director John Halsall said: “The railway plays such a large part in the visual life of London and the South, with our walls, bridges and viaducts threading across the region. I’m really pleased we’re able to use our structures like this and provide world-famous artists like Jimmy C a canvas for their art. There’s a practical benefit too – we know that walls with art remain unvandalised for much longer and in some cases become visitor attractions in their own right.”

*Evening in the City of London, part of the Museum of London’s collection.