Southwark residents may have noticed something different about their commute this morning – the underground station is now the site of an 85 metre long billboard covered in images that celebrate female pleasure.
The station is now hosting the latest Art on the Underground installation, The Bower of Bliss, a colossal artwork by British artist Linder Sterling.
Collage artist Linder, who began her career in the Manchester punk scene and produced The Buzzcocks’s famous Orgasm Addict album cover, has used the traditional commercial format of the billboard to comment on how women are often portrayed in advertising.
“This is not female pleasure dependent on buying a certain lipstick, or female pleasure dependant on wearing a certain type of shoe,” Linder told the Standard. “It’s just female pleasure for the sake of female pleasure. I think that feels quite radical."
Local women past and present are depicted in the artwork, alongside items gathered by Linder from local archives. Many of the women are also covered in flowers and sugary foods, as a comment on how women are often portrayed as “sweet” in advertising.
Linder is among the all-female line-up of artists for this year's Art on the Underground commissions, including Heather Phillipson and Njideka Akunyili Crosby.
The installation will be at Southwark Station for the next year, during which Linder plans to add images to the collage in response to Britain’s political landscape.
The Bower of Bliss by Linder Sterling will be on display at Southwark Station until October 2019. For more information, visit art.tfl.gov.uk
