Public arts organisation Art Below is celebrating 20 years of transforming London Underground stations into temporary art galleries.
Founded in 2006, the exhibition uses advertising billboards to display posters of artwork with the aim of making art more accessible to the public.
The counter-culture exhibition purposefully coincides with Frieze London, an exclusive art fair costing exhibitors a minimum of £17.5 thousand for a booth, to offer emerging and established artists a cheaper way to capitalise on the 85,000 visitors who flock to the city for Frieze.
Art Below founder, Ben Moore, said: “So much of the art world is self-centred, so it was important for me to do something for the masses, those on the underground, and emerging artists.
“I wanted to build something that would become a part of every artist’s journey, that creates exposure for them and becomes a part of their toolkit.
“I’m really happy and proud that great talent continues to be shown.”
Collaborating with numerous artists over the past 20 years, from Alice Jackson and Ben Eine to Sarah Maple, Art Below has featured controversial posters in some of its exhibitions.
The elusive and internationally acclaimed street artist Banksy displayed their artwork ‘Forgive Us Our Trespassing’ on a poster in the Art Below exhibition in 2010.
Transport for London initially refused to let Banksy’s poster be displayed with the boy’s spray-pained halo, fearing it could encourage graffiti.
The halo was removed before the poster went on display at London Bridge station. Within days, an unidentified person spray-painted it back on, and the poster was swiftly removed.
Several memorial posters have also been commissioned by Art Below over the past two decades.
A commemorative poster of Amy Winehouse featuring a portrait painted by Johan Anderson was displayed in Camden Town station in 2012, honouring the singer’s connection to the area a year after her death.
Moore said: “It’s quite symbolic showing the memorial posters underground, because its where we go when we die, it’s like the tube station becomes their tomb.”
The current underground display of posters from 28 artists can be found at Regent’s Park, Pimlico, and Hyde Park Corner tube stations, with an exhibition of the original artworks shown at Ad Lib Gallery in Wimbledon.
The gallery has been collaborating with Art Below since 2022 and Moore credits it with being instrumental to the continued success of the Tube station exhibitions.
Looking to the future, Moore hopes the Art Below adapts to technological changes in advertising.
He said: “I think we’ll enter a new realm where everyone is wearing smart glasses and digital ads become increasingly personalised.
“We could run digital installations in the tube and what’s shown could be instantly changeable, which would be a good thing, artists could upload their art in a day, not needing a month to take things from the warehouse to the printer.”
Moore intends to hold an above-ground party to celebrate 20 years of the underground exhibition before the end of the year.
The Autumn Art Below exhibition is on display until 25 October 2026.
Exhibitor applications for the Spring Art Below exhibition in March 2027 are currently open.
Featured image credit: Ellen White
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