The Angel Of The North

[poliphilo]

On our way down from the Wall we took a very short, curly detour to have a closer look at The Angel of the North. Gormley's a limited artist; he has had one or two great ideas- a bit like Henry Moore- and has worked at them and worked at them- and the Angel is the climax of his life's work- the greatest piece of public sculpture of the age- actually more than that- the work that has revived the worn-out genre of public sculpture and made it exciting and challenging again. Now every region of Britain wants something similar.

It stands on a hillock on the edge of a Gateshead council estrate overlooking the road. As you drive north you see it rising above the low roofs and the lamp posts to greet you. Get close and it's huge.