Art in Unusual Spaces Nov 2011

A digital cat which breaks down into its constituent pixels, a group of happy children pointing and laughing at you while you wait for the number 55 and a wide-eyed face comprised of little cardboard rooms; you might have recently noticed some surprising artwork popping up on digital screens across London.

Nexus has collaborated with outdoor media specialist Clear Channel to provide art in unusual places, namely a brand new network of 100 digital screens in bus stops, from Shoreditch High St to Cambridge Circus, Hammersmith to Oxford Street.

Nexus artists featured so far include Johnny Kelly with ‘Head’, Fx Goby with 6 specially created illustrations varying from children and cats to jellyfish and a waterfall, Ceyln’s delicate illustrations of tumbling women and a crowd of shoppers and 3 segments lifted from Quayola’s ‘Strata 4’ film installation, a graphic reinterpretation of the Ruebens altarpiece painting ’ La Descente du Croix’, which was originally commisioned for Le Palais Des Beaux Arts in Lille.

The ambition of this project is to make surprising and high quality contemporary art available to the general public in those wasted moments spent waiting for the bus home. Longer term, the plan is to offer full moving image and interactive work on the screens, once council permissions allow.

In the meantime, enjoy a refreshing change from billboard advertising - these ‘digital 6-sheets’ are like secret treasures, waiting to be discovered.

www.clearchannel.co.uk/ld6