Pathway to an Angel

[owenmorris]

Another shot of thr Angel from a different angle....

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3327/3477108189_e3e457b736_b.jpg

[ladyups]

Hi Owen, do you have an history on this statue...where is it, who built it and why?

[owenmorris]

Hi Owen, do you have an history on this statue...where is it, who built it and why?


Hi Mary hope this helps,

Introducing ‘The Angel of the North’



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

(Photo: The Journal)

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.”

[mrdoug]

Great composition... killer lens flare. Pretty cool shot, OwenMorris!

[ladyups]

Thanks Owen, that was definitely interesting. Something that will be around for generations. That was interesting to realize that the body was hollow..
We have a really big cross at the west side of our little town. A man that has lived here his whole life had it put up after he visited a place that had one. He felt like we needed one too. It's always getting graffiti on it but he goes out and cleans it off. It's pretty majestic looking, especially when the sun is setting and the sky is still a dark blue....almost like it is lit but it isn't. My grandson lives 40 miles north/west of town and he always says...we are at grannys! Just as soon as he sees the cross.
Thank you for the information...its nice to know the history.

[owenmorris]

Hi Mary well the Angel is one of them things you either love or hate depending when you see it and also how you see it, sometimes I drive past (which I do regular) and think that looks nice weather and time depending and others I drive past and think it's just a rusty statue.

As for graffiti never seen any but when it was first put in place some youths fitted it with a massive Newcastle football club shirt and it was soon removed probably made good publicity..

Owen