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GOING UNDERGROUND - London tube's vibrant cultural scene is explored in an awesome art book

It's impossible to think of life in London without taking into account what's underneath the city. The Underground, or more simply the tube, as Londoners call it, knits the city together from north to south, east to west.

The map of the underground with its colourful embroidery is such an essential aspect of daily life in the city that, just like Big Ben, its become synonymous with London. The tube doesn't just take people from one destination to another; lots of things take place along its never-ending corridors, escalators and platforms. Throughout the London Underground - behind the seeming indifference of most people - there's also a lot of art.

The Underground has a long tradition of housing works of art. From the surrealist Man Ray in the 1920s to contemporary pop artists such as Chiho Aoshima, the list is long. The Brasilian-born artist Beatriz Milhazes displayed, in 2006, a large panel at Glouster Road station, in which she depicted every moment of an entire day, from sunrise to sunset.
Formats of this artistic expression vary from Harry Beck's famous map to Eduardo Palozzi's mosaic at Tottenham Court Road, as well as the hundreds of posters and installations that bring a glimmer of art into the city's stressful daily routine.

Platform for Art is a project that has been exploring subsoil aesthetic realms since 2000 to carry on this tradition, withlarge-scale installations on underground platforms. Now, a beautiful book produced by Black Dog Publishing and edited by Tamsin Dillon showcases a selection of the best work from over the past few years.

The book is a comprehensive survey of what is one of London's most challenging art programmes - well worth checking out.

words by Adriano Espínola Filho
picture by Daisy Hutchison

PLATFORM FOR ART
Black Dog Publishing , £19.50
Win a copy - see competitions
www.blackdogonline.com