In 2010, Futurecity was appointed to develop a visionary art commissioning strategy for Crossrail, originally described as the ‘Culture Line’. In order to raise the profile of this ambitious public art project, Futurecity identified 7 of London’s leading international, commercial contemporary art galleries – one for each station. The first commission is by critically acclaimed artist Spencer Finch for Paddington Elizabeth Line Station, in collaboration with Lisson Gallery.
‘A Cloud Index’ by Spencer Finch is a cloudscape that has been printed onto the glazed roof of the new Elizabeth line station, making it one of the largest permanent artworks ever created in the capital, funded by Heathrow and the City of London Corporation.
Finch has hand-drawn 60 original pastels that combine to create a unique collage of clouds, that when printed onto the transparent canopy will appear to change according to the light, weather and the time of day. Given its unprecedented length, visitors will see the artwork in a new way depending on what way they enter, leave or move through the station.
The canopy, which appears to float above the platforms 25 metres below ground, is a steel grid that holds 220 bespoke glass panels, each one weighing over a tonne. The hand drawn scene will be ‘painted’ onto 180 of the panels using ceramic dot matrix printing that not only creates the image, but also reduces solar glare into the station.
Read more about ‘A Cloud Index’ on Crossrail Art News
