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. 

Comments

[solar-diablo.livejournal.com]

Looking at it closer reinforces my opinion about the pagan element. Those ridges remind me of a wickerman. Pretty impressive piece all around.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Indeed. Gormley has a genius for placing extraordinary things in the landscape.