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| The 'Underbelly project' station. (Emile Souris) |
"In an abandoned station under New York City, the most exclusive gallery in the world stands as a protest against the commercialisation of street art". The journalist, Jasper Rees, was one of the lucky few to witness the 18 month, top secret 'Underbelly project' which has brought (or smuggled) over 100 street artists to a section of unused New York subway.
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| Revok and Ceaze (Underbelly) |
Rees describes it as "floor-to-ceiling images adorn distant walls, much like posters on subway platforms. Here, apparently, is artwork after outsize artwork. At a glance, I can see gawping heads, writhing figures, letter clusters in graffiti’s signature font, riotous splashes and creepy swooshes in attention-seeking hues. I feel a sudden tingle of visceral amazement. This is genuinely astonishing. I can see only a tiny fraction of what’s here, covering every available wall space. This contemporary time capsule features 100 works of street art by artists from all over the world".
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| Roa (Emile Souris) |
Started by two street artists, Workhorse and PAC, it was PAC who was originally introduced to the abandoned station in 2005 by a member of a group of NY urban explorers. "For a couple of years he (PAC) would sporadically visit. Then he met Workhorse — a theme of whose work is reclaiming abandoned spaces — while helping him to hang a show. The Underbelly project took on epic proportions as soon as they realised that they couldn’t possibly hope to cover the walls by themselves with a few friends. So they decided to put the word out in urban art’s clandestine community: they’d stop after a year, or when they reached 100 works, whichever came first."
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| Boxi and Brazilian Ethos (James Garrett) |
Approaching a true cross-section of artists, "old-school guys, new-school guys, up-and-coming guys, and plenty of girls", Workhorse & PAC wanted the participating street artists to be in it for the love of painting & the project's aim . "For the last few years urban art has been getting ridiculous. You could go out with some cute little character that you drew, or some quirky saying, and put it up everywhere for a few months, then do a gallery show and cash in on the sudden interest in urban art. It really was that easy for a while...The Underbelly was our way of feeling like we were an island again. We finally had a space in the world that collectors couldn’t contaminate. A space that couldn’t be bought."
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| Workhorse (James Garrett) |
"Most names speak of withheld identities and covert operations: Specter, Demer, Aiko, Posterchild, Roa, Saber, Trusto Corp, Sinboy, Bigfoot, Flying Fortress, Elbow Toe, Imminent Disaster… They came from all over: Japan, Israel, Australia, France, Mexico, Spain, Belgium, Brazil and Romania. Several British artists are represented, not only the Amsterdam-based The London Police, but also Lucy McLauchlan, Apish Angel, O.Two, SheOne, Boxi, Remi/Rough." And it wasn't an easy task getting them down there without being seen, "artists came down in ones and twos and occasionally fours", but once in their underworld they "donned their face masks and head torches and set to work."
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| Dan Witz (Underbelly) |
No one knows how long this urban 'gallery' will last threatened by both law-enforcement and time & humidity, but for now it's been sealed up for "the mission, stretching back over 18 months and involving 75 sorties, has been accomplished."
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| O Two (Workhorse) |
Read the full article and look at all the images and video footage at the The Sunday Times.
Thanks Trish.
