Bicycle, Ugo Gattoni (2012)

A fold-out illustration that imagines a surrealist attack on London being met by an overwhelming throng of cyclists

Nobrow 978190770445133cm x 2m £18

Gattoni’s giant fantasy illustration envisages London’s streets crowded by cyclists and little else. From Tower Bridge to Big Ben, though the streets that show hints of everywhere from Shoreditch to Regent Street, ant-like pedal pushers throng the thoroughfares. A huge donut hangs from the Gherkin, a gargantuan pig bursts from the Trocodero and a giant is rises from the Thames.

Gattoni’s intense, and finely drawn phantasmagoria was reportedly inspired by the Olympics. The concetina fold-out looks to me more like a reaction to the bewildering chaos of urban life, with its capacity to throw up delights and dystopia on opposite sides of the same street. Much is familiar – the curve of roads and shape of buildings, but there is also plenty to disorientate here, not least the French road signs and advertising. It is a style that certainly owes something to Robert Crumb.

To gain the full effect, you really need to buy two copies – the illustration is printed on both sides of the two meter strip, which is not attached to the cardboard cover. Connected together they would make a fabulous wall frieze, or could for the basis for a rather more interesting Where’s-Wally style game.

Whether deployed for decorative or gaming purposes, it is a hoot that deserves to be widely enjoyed.

TD Sep 12

Incidentally, there is a nice film of Gattoni drawing the piece here.

BICYCLE from Ugo Gattoni on Vimeo.