Artwork at Whitechapel
‘A Sunday Afternoon in Whitechapel’ by Chantal Joffe
Inspired by the vibrant diversity of the local community, artist Chantal Joffe has created a series of large-scale collages for the platforms of the new Whitechapel station.
On-the-spot records of individuals that caught her eye on a Sunday afternoon were the starting point. Joffe then created a series of colourful, small-scale paper collages, which were recreated in laser-cut aluminium. The 2-metre-tall collages were then assembled and fixed to the arching platform walls, 30 metres below street level.
“All my thinking around this project has been about the journeys we make and how we make them our own – through the people we see on a daily basis, or private maps of significant places we carry in our heads. Part of the challenge has been to develop small intimate collages into large scale works and to retain a sense of the personal in a public space."
- Chantal Joffe
"I like the idea of creating an identity for the station which is a very beautiful architectural space, and I wanted the art in it to link the under round with the above ground and the sense of Whitechapel as a bustling inner-city place with a hospital and a market. It was really important that you feel very that aliveness and I wanted you to feel very strongly, I know here this is: this is Whitechapel.”
- Chantal Joffe
Sponsor: City of London Corporation with grants from Art Fund and Randeree Charitable Trust
Gallery partner: Whitechapel Gallery
