Art on the Cart
Art on the Cart is an exciting project that has brought together Southwark Council's refuse and culture services.
Eight of our new refuse collection vehicles have become mobile galleries and are covered with works of art by local artists and from the Southwark Collection. There is one vehicle for each community council area, so be sure to look out for yours!
About the project
Art on the Cart showcases a diverse selection of art that has been 
created using a variety of techniques, such as oil painting,
printmaking, designs for ceramics, wallpaper and theatre sets.
Each work has a fascinating local connection, whether it is about the artist, the inspiration, the theme of the work or its history. The project intends to celebrate art and artists in Southwark and encourage people to visit our collections, galleries, studios and arts festivals.
The Southwark Art Collection dates back to when the South London Gallery was founded in the 1890s as an exhibition space for the fine and decorative arts. Since then, numerous works have been donated to the collection and purchased by the council. Today, the collection represents most of the art movements in Britain.
The Cuming Collection was put together by Richard and Henry Syer Cuming between 1782 and 1902. The items collected come from all over the world and cover the archaeology, social history, decorative art, ethnography, geology, textiles, natural history, prints, coins and fakes. The Cuming collection is important both in its scope and content mainly because of its provenance and also the types of items collected.
Couple Blue by local artist Gabriela Szulman, travelling in and around Dulwich
Gabriela Szulman was born in Argentina and now works in London as a ceramist and printmaker. She studied ceramics at the Camberwell College of Arts and had a studio in Iliffe Yard, Walworth in the early 90s. Szulman has lived in Camberwell for over five years and as well as co organising the London Art and Design Show she is studying for a Masters in printmaking.
The image on the cart is from her current range of prints.
 
Tapa cloth from the Cuming Collection, travelling in and around Walworth
The painted mat was collected in 1796 by Captain James Wilson, a Walworth resident, who sailed on the first missionary trip to Tahiti, Tonga, the Austral Islands and the Marquesas in the South Pacific.
Tapa cloth is produced in distinctive styles for both functional and ceremonial purposes throughout the islands of the South Pacific. It has symbolic meaning and an important cultural role, used at weddings, funerals and royal events.
Tapa is a cloth made from the inner bark of the paper mulberry tree. As it is beaten with a wooden tool it becomes thinner and increases in size. Pieces are pasted together to form sheets and the surface is then decorated. The decoration often features geometricized plants and fish and coats of arms. Special designs are made to commemorate important events and it is sometimes worn to signify rank.
The image on the cart is of a tapa cloth that is thought to come from the Austral Islands. It is painted on the top surface with either plant extracts or mineral pigments.
Periodic table by local artist Bill Woodrow and from the Southwark Art Collection, travelling in and around Borough and Bankside
Bill Woodrow trained at Winchester School of Art, St. Martins College of Art and Chelsea College of Art. He is an internationally recognised sculptor and artist and lives and works in SE5. He is a regular exhibitor at the South London Gallery.
In 1994 Woodrow produced a series of black and white linocuts that are based on chapters of Primo Levi's acclaimed book The Periodic Table. Primo Levi, 1919 to 87, trained as a chemist in the 1930s and, when imprisoned in Auschwitz during the war, was saved from death by being put to work in the camp’s laboratory. Around each element Levi weaves a tale that is both autobiographical and fictional. In Woodrow’s work each black and white linocut print identifies the element with its chemical name.
The images on the cart are of the Tin, Arsenic, Sulphur and Nickel linocuts.
 Bill Woodrow
Information courtesy of Booth-Clibborn, 1995, Contemporary British Art in Print 
Orange tree wallpaper by Walter Crane from the Southwark Art Collection, travelling in and around Peckham Rye and Nunhead
Walter Crane, 1845 to 1915, was an artist, designer and socialist and was on the founding committee of the South London Gallery.
The image on the cart is of an orange tree design that is woodblock colour printed wallpaper made by London based Jeffrey & Co. in the 1890s. It is from a collection presented to the South London Gallery in 1913.
 
Cycloid 1 by Peter Schmidt from the Southwark Art Collection, travelling in and around Bermondsey
Peter Schmidt, 1913 to 1980, emigrated to Britain from Germany in 1938. He attended Goldsmiths College and Slade School of Fine Art before teaching at Watford School of Art between 1953 and 1957. Schmidt practiced in many media, notably print, electronic improvisation and film.
The image shown on the cart is a serigraph, high quality open edition silkscreen print, that was printed by Editions Alecto.
 
Leaves by local artist Lisa Katzenstein, travelling in and around Peckham
Lisa Katzenstein trained in ceramics at the Central School of Art in the late 70s, then at the royal College of Art in the early 80s. She worked in the ceramics department at the Camberwell College of Art for many years.
Katzenstein was instrumental in setting up Studio 8 at Vanguard Court in the mid 80s and has since returned to Southwark where she has worked for almost five years. Katzenstein shows her work widely around the country and is on the Crafts Council selected list.
The images shown on the cart are photographs of images that often feature on the artist’s majolica decorated ceramic work.
Lisa Katzenstein
 
Orange by local artist Martin Masterton, travelling in and around Rotherhithe
Masterton trained at the Hornsey School of Art in the early 80s, then at the Royal College of Art. He is an abstract painter and photographer. He has lived on Camberwell Green for over 15 years and has a painting studio on Denmark Hill. Every year he takes part in the Camberwell Arts Festival. His paintings exploit the skills learnt when he trained as a French polisher and special effects decorative painter.
The image on the cart is an adaptation of his oil painting 'Orange'.
 
Argon by Peter Snow from the Southwark Art Collection, travelling in and around Camberwell
Peter Snow attended Goldsmiths College and Slade School of Fine Art before teaching at Slade. He has also been a journalist for South London Press. A painter and stage designer, he has also made prints in various media, as well as a series of drawings and abstract works. Snow’s most productive period was in the 1970s and 1980s and over the years he has exhibited widely in London. Until recently he lived in Kennington.
The image on the cart is a painting called Argon, which is oil on panel and was completed around 1970.
 
Further information
Find out about
Galleries in Southwark
The Cuming Museum
Southwark Collections Online
South London Gallery
University of the Arts
Camberwell Arts
Crafts Council
ArtQuest
Contact us
Tel: 020 7525 2000
environment@southwark.gov.uk |