Two artworks (detail) by Hugo Guinness ‘who lived on 19 bus route’ both titled BUS CONDUCTOR

AN exhibition about the “perfectly plotted trajectory” on a London bus route, featuring work from 19 artists including Grayson Perry, is set to open in Mayfair.

Route 19, at Belmacz Gallery in Davies Street from September 10, will take passengers on an artistic journey through “one of the unsung mythic networks of our city”.

A decommissioned 19 Routemaster will be picking up guests from the Frieze Art Fair next month and taking them directly to the gallery.

Curator Adrian Dannatt said: “Number 19 is the best bus route in London, everybody knows that.

“I grew up on it, travelling back and forth throughout my misspent youth between my home in Islington and the watering holes of Soho and the narcotic lure of those further reaches of the King’s Road.

“It is so geographically ripe, such a perfectly plotted trajectory through the best and worst of London and simply everyone m’dear seems to have lived or worked along its elegant artery.”

The show features 19 artists including Perry who has lived and worked along various points of the route.

The curators say the No 19 has always been a “clandestine cultural conduit, some ley line through so many different eras of bohemia from symbolist Chelsea to punk Highbury”.

At one point anyone who could prove they were going to a performance at Sadler’s Wells could get a free ticket.

The gallery’s founder Julia Muggenburg said: “With Route 19 Belmacz excitingly presents an imaginative exploration of London’s spirited ways, delving into the city’s past, present, and future, offering a unique perspective on its character and progression.

“Taking a thematic approach, the exhibition will examine the city’s history through various lenses, as the artists investigate their perceptions of the city’s light, monuments, architecture, speech, expressiveness, history, anecdotes, literature… While also taking time for the ennui, the waiting, sitting, standing as Route 19 snakes around, showcasing the city’s potential for one to meander and the artistry this may foster.”

The exhibition includes a series of quotes about the bus taken from literature and popular music.

The 19 bus features in The Clash’s song Rudie Can’t Fail, with Joe Strummer singing: “Now sing, Michael, sing / On the route of the 19 Bus / We hear them sayin’ / How do you get so rude and reckless? / Don’t you be so crude and feckless / You’ve been drinking brew for breakfast…”

The bus also features in a poem by Sir John Betjeman, Devonshire Street.

The No 19 bus route started as Route H in 1906 before being renumbered to 19 in 1908, and has run continuously between Finsbury Park and Battersea Bridge, largely following the same path for most of its history.

Artists taking part include Kathy Prendergast, Artemii Smirnov, Adam McEwen, James Birch and Adam Barker-Mill.

The exhibition runs until November 7.