Stephen Walter: “Maps are inherently political if they’re interesting.‪”‬ Very Expensive Maps

London artist and mapmaker Stephen Walter on two decades of drawing and painting “the semiotic residues of humankind,” an invitation to map an Ivorian national park (and why you should wait for the dry season before attempting this), approaching six years of work on an NYC map, interpreting Michael Drayton’s 17th c. topographical poem Poly-Olbion into a 6x5 ft. folkloric tour of England and Wales, walking the territory, the origins of “north up,” the souls of places, a half-day's research to place a single label, and his vision of Utopia. See his work at stephenwalter.org


In-progress map of Manhattan
London Subterranea, 2012
Nova Utopia, 2013
Albion, 2016
Brexitland, 2019
Map of Comoé (La carte de la Comoé), 2019
Henry Dreyfuss’s Symbol Sourcebook
Jerry Brotton
Gerardus Mercator
Jacopo de' Barbari’s 1500 View of Venice
Abrahram Ortelius’s 1595 map of Utopia
The 1648 Klencke Atlas of England (5x5 ft.!), presented by Joannes Klencke to Charles II on his 1660 restoration to the throne
John Rocque’s 1746 map of London
Greenwood’s 1830 map of London
Egbert L. Viele’s 1865 Manhattan map
Bodleian Library map collection
Paul Noble
Layla Curtis
Katie Patterson
Alighiero Boetti
Grayson Perry
Ed Fairburn
Ewan David Eason
Emilio Isgò
Justine Smith
Paula Scher
Other Fabrications

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