The new mural at Brixton Tube is by renowned British artist and 2024 Turner Prize nominee Claudette Johnson.
Launched today (25 October) as part of Transport for London’s (TfL) Art on the Underground programme, Johnson’s first public artwork, Three Women, is the latest in a series of murals installed at the Tube by artists including Denzil Forrester, Joy Labinjo and Njideka Akunyili Crosby, in recognition of the murals painted in the area in the 1980s.
Three Women is a triptych (a three-part artwork) that features Black female figures referenced from one of Johnson’s previous works, Trilogy 1982-86, which she created in the 1980s.
The positions of the Black female figures resonate with Picasso’s legendary Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907).
This painting by Picasso, whose problematic and fractured engagement with African art and the female form marked shifts in Johnson’s early work, evoked questions about how she might locate herself in her work and, as a Black woman, confront the denials and distortions of Western art history.
TfL says that, with Three Women, Johnson returns to these questions with three subjects instilled with a self-possessed subjectivity that runs counter to the eroticised forms and colonial gaze of modernist art movements.
Johnson works primarily in large-scale drawings, using a range of media, from gouache and watercolour to oil, pastel and pencil.
Often captured from life, Johnson’s figures are monolithic in scale, reaching to the edges of the frame and yet intimately encountered.
Addressing the personal as political and challenging stereotypes of representation through human figures and gesture, Johnson’s work gives space and power to the presence of Black people and offers a mediation on shared humanity, says TfL.
Depicted in monumental form for Brixton Underground station, the figures reach beyond the composition, as though resisting the confines of the conventional frame and interrupting a homogenised understanding of African art and of the Black female figure.
“Three Women was inspired by an earlier work, Trilogy 1982-86, which depicts three standing figures adopting poses that reflect their way of being in the world,” said Johnson.
“In Three Women, I have loosely referenced Picasso’s 1907 painting, Les Demoiselles D’Avignon by having the sitters adopt seated poses that reflect those of some of ‘les demoiselles’.
“I am fascinated by the power that emanates from these postures and this is born from my long-standing interest in women, power, and how we claim space in places where we have been absent, obscured, caricatured or denied.”
Justine Simons OBE, London’s deputy mayor for culture and the creative industries, said: “Art on the Underground is part of the fabric of London’s transport network and an amazing way to showcase incredible artistic talent to millions of people every day.
“I’m delighted that the renowned Claudette Johnson is the next artist to display her work at Brixton Underground station – putting a triptych of Black women centre stage and telling the unique story of their lived experiences.
“I hope it will inspire commuters and visitors travelling in our city as we build a better London for everyone.”
Eleanor Pinfield, head of Art on the Underground, said the work continues the prganisation’s exploration of contemporary responses to muralism at Brixton station, referencing a work she made in the 1980s, “a period of wide expansion of muralism through South London”.
She said the work will be enjoyed by millions of people using the Underground station each day.”
Donatus Anyanwu, Lambeth council cabinet member for stronger communities, said he us delighted the mural will be enjoyed by thousands thousands of local residents.
“It’s such a prominent location and a wonderful opportunity to celebrate Claudette’s incredible artistic achievements, particularly as we’re currently marking Black History Month.”
Claudette Johnson has been nominated for the 2024 Turner Prize, one of the world’s most prestigious art awards. Her work is currently included in The Turner Prize exhibition at Tate Britain, alongside fellow nominees Pio Abad, Jasleen Kaur and Delaine Le Bas. The prize will be awarded on 3 December 2024 at a ceremony at Tate Britain, and the exhibition runs until 16 February and is just three stops away from Brixton on the Victoria line, in Pimlico.
A founding member of the BLK Art Group in Wolverhampton in the early 1980s, Johnson is one of the foremost figurative artists working in Britain today.
Initiated in 2018, the mural programme at Brixton Underground station invites artists to respond to the diverse narratives of the area, in recognition of the local murals painted in the 1980s.
