I recently got back from a trip to London to visit my good friend Alex, the evil genius behind Creating Trouble. I’m lucky enough that Al is a mosaic artist and appreciator herself (check out her stuff on Etsy, y’all!), so it wasn’t too hard for me to convince her that a London mosaic tour was in order. Second stroke of luck – she knew just where to find several fabulous specimens.
One of the mosaic collections I loved was the Tottenham Ct. Rd. tube station murals, done in 1984 by Sir Eduoardo Paolozzi. They’re so vibrant and full of life – what a wonderful interjection of joy and color into what otherwise might be a mundane or even frazzling public transportation experience. (The Tate’s website has a great collection of other Paolozzi artwork, if you’re curious.)
The murals evoke Paolozzi’s collage work, mixing musical, industrial, geometric, and organic elements – and I’m sure many more. I suspect we didn’t even see the entirety of it, so spread throughout the platforms and tunnels of the station are these mosaics.
The mosaics in the London Underground Tottenham Ct. Rd. tube station combine smalti and vitreous glass tile in bold, bright colors.
Paolozzi did a wonderfully effective job of mixing the more economical vitreous glass tiles with sections of bold and beautiful smalti to highlight certain design elements (in the photo to the right, compare the saxophone – smalti – to the the hexagonal wheel shape on its right – vitreous tile). As a result, we get to enjoy beautiful mosaics across a much larger area of the tube station.
solid colors and basic shapes in E. Paolozzi's Tottenham Ct. Rd. mosaic murals show off smalti's rich colors and textural variation. Notice the marbling in the gray smalti, and the mottled color & texture variation in the pinks and blues (click image to enlarge).
Smalti is a great choice too, because the designs are perfectly suited to show off what makes this material so amazing. The bright, solid colors show how rich a tone you can get from smalti – again, compare to the vitreous tile to see what I mean. And the large pieces Paolozzi’s chosen to use showcase the gorgeous variation in color and texture contained within a single piece of the stuff (the Mexican kind, anyway – Italian smalti is much more uniform in color, but it looks to me like Paolozzi used Mexican).
As beautiful as these mosaics are, you can’t help but be struck by the bits that have crumbled or been torn out over time. It’s sad – but I guess one can hardly expect a near 3-decade-old mosaic in such a high traffic area to fare much better. Rather than dwelling on the tragedy of lost art, I think of the destroyed bits as a reminder to value the art that’s in front of me now, and help me remember to enjoy it while I can.
Street art is a perfect example of art that adopts this principle – it’s very public and very impermanent. In my next blog post I’ll show you some fun stuff we found hidden all over the city. 
This is awesome…and is that girl Kate Heil?
Posted by Melinda | 28. Feb, 2011, 6:19 pmSuch vivd colors. I love it!
Posted by Kelly | 28. Feb, 2011, 6:21 pmMelinda – that girl is actually my friend Alex. But I admit, she does look a bit like Kate H. Redheads of the world, unite!
Posted by shannon | 28. Feb, 2011, 6:27 pmShannon! I didn’t realize you had a blog (or maybe I’ve forgotten(?!); sorry). Anyway, it’s awesome! So well done and I LOVE this photos!! Keep me updated on the glass world, you glassy girl. :)
Posted by Melanie | 28. Feb, 2011, 7:53 pmHi Shannon!
its Sue from the MAM group. I want you to know that I DO read your stuff … I’m fascinated with your recent trip across the pond … and am anxious to read about the other mosaics you and your friend have found! I’m reading .. .entertained and thrilled to be included! Keep on keepin on, girl!
Posted by Sue Majewski | 28. Feb, 2011, 8:08 pmThanks, ladies! Glad you find it interesting. Glass is pretty cool, no? :-) Susan – yes, I’ve got some stories you’ll be hearing tonight, woohoo!
Posted by shannon | 01. Mar, 2011, 9:08 amdarn it…I needed that $3. Need more details about your trip. I hope you will be at Ski’s tomorrow
Posted by Susan Buchan | 28. Feb, 2011, 8:51 pmShannon, I didn’t even know you had a blog! I love tile and mosaics as well. Barcelona is my favorite city I’ve been to, partly for that reason. Also I made an out-of-the-way trip to Ravenna, Italy to see the mosaics there after learning about them in a college art history class. My friend just brought me back some really cool tiles from Talavera, Mexico and I really want to have some tile work done in the new house but it won’t get to happen until after our wedding. But I will definitely check back here for inspiration!
Posted by noëlle | 01. Mar, 2011, 10:06 amWow, sounds like you’ve seen so many great mosaics! I loved Barcelona too, & going to Ravenna is one of my dreams. :-) Do you have pics on FB? I’ll have to check out Talavera. Keep me posted on the home improvement stuff. Have you ever seen Tile Envy? If you’re looking for inspiration, you may want to check it out. I’ve found a lot of great stuff on there. Sarah Baldwin (owner of New Revenna) also has great stuff.
Posted by shannon | 03. Mar, 2011, 3:34 pmOops, meant to comment last night when I read this & didn’t realise I hadn’t (sorreeee!)
Great post m’dear, looks like you had an awesome time…
Being more serious- great depiction of Tott court rd, fabulous photos and great read too. And thanks for mentioning me too!!
Posted by Creating Trouble | 01. Mar, 2011, 2:49 pmThanks Al, and of course I had to mention you!! You were so nice to show me all of these. I had such a great time. Hugs again to you, Andy, & the new Lellie!
Posted by shannon | 03. Mar, 2011, 3:41 pmThis article makes me want to go to London. So interesting, can’t wait for the next blog!
Posted by Anne | 01. Mar, 2011, 3:19 pmThey are indeed splendid – I took some photos too the last time I went to London! Some of them are going to be ripped up soon when they make alterations to the station. According to this article they will look after them and put them back. Let’s hope so!
http://www.artlyst.com/articles/eduardo-paolozzi-murals-at-risk-by-development
Thanks for the comment and tweet by the way!
Posted by Kate Rattray | 14. Mar, 2011, 3:43 pmThanks for the article, Kate! I too hope they care for those mosaics well during the renovation. It sounds like they’re really beloved, so perhaps chances are good. You’re welcome for the tweet – I love your work & am happy to share it! :-)
Posted by shannon | 14. Mar, 2011, 4:56 pm