Ross Ashmore: Cataloguing the mundane

Ross Ashmore has embarked on an ambitious task of painting all the London Transport Underground Stations- of which there are 267. “I realise for me this has to do with my commercial past. I was always under pressure to deliver on time, except this time I had created my own brief and deadline.” To coincide with this year's 150th Anniversary of London Underground, he will finally complete all the paintings, of all the stations, this summer. “I love the Underground. I love the concept of going below ground and resurfacing somewhere else."

“I believe that art is a powerful form of expression. That an artist should be honest, passionate and have conviction about his work – much at odds with the commercial world I had come from and today's obsession with perfection. I didn't want to be chocolate box. The gesture of painting, the process, is just as important to me as the image. Every painting is an action – making the mark in paint creates energy and conveys emotion – it creates the mood – it begins to take on a life of it's own. I love the physicality of painting. Many artists today are so obsessed with perfection and technique they don't look like paintings at all.”

“The mass produced commercial world is so concerned with perfection – 'everything was airbrushed out!' In contrast I began to appreciate being different, embracing individuality – freedom of expression. This view is what drives and inspires me today. It's the ordinary things in life, the mundane that I want to catalogue in my work. With all the relentless change, very soon, we may forget the way things were.”

Ross Ashmore: Going Underground is at SPACE art gallery (141 High St, Southgate N14 6BP) until 5 April. Open: Mon-Fri 17:30-19:30, Sat and Sun 12:00-16:00.

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The Jam - Down In The Tube Station At Midnight.