Subway Passengers: Underground Portraits From Ten Cities

April 11, 2002 3:23 PM

Subway Passengers: Underground Portraits From Ten Cities António Jorge Gonçalves rides the subway and sketches whoever happens to sit in front of him, from New York to Lisbon to Tokyo. I find his drawings interesting because there's nothing studied or selective about them. You feel you've already seen these people. Mathowie recently linked to another Portuguese artist's drawings - Jorge Colombo, who designed O Independente with me, the newspaper I founded and edited in 1987. It's a small consolation for a small country like mine that urban sketches by fellow citizens are, as of now, practically a staple here on MetaFilter...[Flash required; download may be slow for dial-ups at busy times and, whatever you do, don't hit your browser's Back button - use only the one provided.]
posted by MiguelCardoso (9 comments total)

Everybody looks so miserable. Actually, come to think of it I don't ever remember seeing anyone terribly jubilant riding the nyc subway.
posted by tomorama at 3:53 PM on April 11, 2002

While the drawings are nice, I do have one minor gripe: no one is eating a sub! I looked at all the images (I mean ALL of them), and not a 6" Turkey or a 6" Meatball (extra mayo, please) in sight. Coudn't he at least done a sketch of Jared proudly displaying his gigantic pantaloons? A before-and-after sketch would have done nicely. Oh well, those ZANY artists and their "interpretations"!
posted by sharksandwich at 4:37 PM on April 11, 2002

We may have armadilloes in our pantaloons, for all they know.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:44 PM on April 11, 2002

I really liked the drawings, and the clever flash* interface. The sketches have a sort of intangible lifelike quality to them. Thanks for the link Miguel.

*it's so rare that there is a clever and not annoying flash interface that works well with art
posted by insomnyuk at 6:36 PM on April 11, 2002

Felt like a long Shel Silverstein poem. About how UNIFORMLY UGLY people on the subway are.
posted by scarabic at 8:06 PM on April 11, 2002

I think I would have enjoyed the drawings if they were not so sunday cartoonish.

Whoops! Did I say that? ;)
posted by Windigo at 8:42 PM on April 11, 2002

I looked to see if he'd done DC, but apparently not. A guy recently sketched me on the Metro here. I figured he'd chase after me when I got off and try to sell me the portrait, but he didn't--I watched him as the train pulled away, still furiously drawing, I guess before he forgot any details? I felt strangely violated. Odd to think of my portrait somewhere out there, maybe being bought by someone. Odd.
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:24 AM on April 12, 2002

[Flash required; download may be slow for dial-ups at busy times and, whatever you do, don't hit your browser's Back button - use only the one provided.]

Perhaps thisis the wrong choice of technology if you have to add disclaimers like this. I tried several different Flash-enabled browsers with Flash and I couldn't get it to load past the initial animation.

Strike three: Flash is great sometimes but often used when it shouldn't be.
posted by camworld at 9:12 AM on April 12, 2002

I like the technique of this artist. Most sketches drawn in just a few minutes. I also like how he can keep so many flexible tools in a compact, descrete manner.
posted by MJoachim at 9:27 AM on April 12, 2002