The 208-tonne “Angel” basically takes the form of a human figure based on artist Antony Gormley's own body. At 20 metres high, the Angel is higher than a five-storey building. Its wings are 54 metres wide - almost the same as a jumbo jet.
Overlooking the A1 at Gateshead, at least 90,000 motorists a day will pass by the sculpture. Rail passengers travelling on the East Coast mainline from London to Edinburgh will also see the angel as they approach Newcastle.
Under construction at Hartlepool Steel Fabrications
The sculpture has been created by the artist as his own response to the site, which had already been chosen as the location for a ‘landmark’ work of public art. It is a stark, otherwise unremarkable, skyline site visible from a distance. The artist has described how he felt this called for a feature which would link between earth and sky.
Some facts about the ‘Angel of the North’:
It is made of weather resistant steel, containing copper, which forms a patina on the surface that mellows with age
Below the structure are massive concrete piles 22 metres deep anchoring it to the solid rock beneath
The body is hollow to allow for internal inspections with an access door high up on a shoulder blade
It is built to last for more than 100 years and withstand winds of more than 100 miles per hour
About the Artist Antony Gormley was born in 1950, and is at the forefront of a generation of celebrated younger British artists who emerged during the 1980s. He has exhibited work around the world and has major public works in the USA, Japan, Australia, Norway and Eire. Public work in Britain can be seen in locations as diverse as the crypt at Winchester Cathedral and Birmingham city centre.
In 1994 he won the prestigious Turner Prize. His work is currently on show in the Victoria and Albert Museum, Tate Gallery, British Museum and the Henry Moore Sculpture Gallery in Leeds.
Gormley has said of the Angel:
“The hill top site is important and has the feeling of being a megalithic mound. When you think of the mining that was done underneath the site, there is a poetic resonance. Men worked beneath the surface in the dark. Now in the light, there is a celebration and visibility of this industry.
“The face will not have individual features. The effect of the piece is in the alertness, the awareness of space and the gesture of the wings - they are not flat, they're about 3.5 degrees forward and give a sense of embrace.”
“It is important to me that the Angel is rooted in the ground - the complete antithesis of what an angel is, floating about in the ether. It has an air of mystery. You make things because they cannot be said.”
“I’m just very interested in loosening things up and making the world a more exciting place to live.”
Under construction at Hartlepool Steel Fabrications
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