Jock McFadyen and Jem Finer: Underground (and Surface) at Guildhall Art Gallery

A new exhibition at Guildhall Art Gallery brings together painter Jock McFadyen RA and musician Jem Finer, founding member of The Pogues, in a collaboration exploring the sensory world of the London Underground.

The exhibition revisits McFadyen’s Underground series, first conceived in the late 1990s and now reimagined through a collaboration with Finer. McFadyen’s paintings capture the Tube in ways that feel both familiar and strange – in works like Bank and Ghost, the recognisable signs and structures of the Underground begin to dissolve, creating a tension between recognition and disorientation.

Alongside the subterranean scenes, expansive cityscapes offer a counterpoint to the shadowed station interiors. Works like Popular Enclosure present cool, serene views of London under radiant blue skies.

Finer has created atmospheric soundscapes from field recordings made on the Northern and Central lines, layering the mechanical and melodic sounds of the Tube into compositions that transform McFadyen’s paintings into what the artists describe as living, breathing organisms.

Admission is Pay What You Can.