Booking Hall, Kilburn Underground 1987

Editor: This is Leon Kossoff's "Booking Hall, Kilburn Underground," an oil painting of considerable size, held at the Tate. It feels raw and urban. What do you make of the figures in this space? Curator: I see echoes of post-war London, still scarred by conflict. Kossoff, of Jewish heritage, understood displacement. Consider the thick impasto, almost a skin, protecting these anonymous figures navigating a shared, yet isolating, transit space. How does this reflect broader social anxieties of the time? Editor: So, it’s not just a scene, but a reflection of the anxieties in society? Curator: Exactly. The layers of paint become layers of history and identity. Kossoff captures the essence of the everyday and asks us to consider whose stories are being told, and whose are being erased in the urban landscape. Editor: I'm beginning to see the layers of meaning beneath the surface.