London A Pilgrimage

London A Pilgrimage (2003)

Oil on board, 30.5x30.5cm

The starting point for this painting was the central photograph, taken from an underground train just outside of Farringdon Station, of an engineer alongside the tracks. When I got this developed, I was struck by the similarities in the figure's stance to a figure in the wood engraving, shown behind, from London A Pilgrimage, published in 1872, with illustrations by the French artist Gustave Doré, and text by Blanchard Jerrold. The illustration shows the exercise yard in Newgate Prison. The polaroid photographs show Tower House in Whitechapel, a massive doss house built at the end of the 19th century, mentioned in Jack London's The People Of The Abyss as 'Monster Doss House'. I later used the central image for anoter painting, entitled Worker.

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