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Angel of the North
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Angel of the North is a modern sculpture created by Antony Gormley, which is located in Gateshead, England.
As the name suggests, it is a steel sculpture of an angel, standing 20 metres (66 feet) tall, with wings 54 metres (178 feet) — making it wider than the Statue of Liberty's height. The wings themselves are not planar, but are angled 3.5 degrees forward, which Gormley has been quoted as saying was to create "a sense of embrace".[1] It stands on a hill overlooking the A1 road and the A167 road into Tyneside and the East Coast Main Line rail route.
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Work began on the project in 1994, the total cost coming to £1m. Most of the project funding was provided by the National Lottery.
Due to its exposed location, the sculpture has to withstand winds of over 100 mph (160 km/h). Thus, 150 metric tonnes (165 tons) of concrete were used to create foundations which anchor the sculpture to rock 20 metres (66 ft) below.
The sculpture itself was created offsite at Hartlepool Steel Fabrications Ltd in three parts – with the body weighing 100 metric tonnes (110 tons), and two wings weighing 50 metric tonnes (55 tons) each – then brought to its site by road. It took seven hours for the body to be transported from its construction site in Hartlepool, up the A19 to the site.
Construction work on the Angel was finished in 16 February 1998. At first, Angel of the North aroused some controversy locally—one local councillor, Martin Callanan, was especially vehement in his opposition—and in the British newspapers. It has now come to be considered as a landmark for the North East of England [2][3]and is one of the 12 official 'Icons of England'.
 Angel of the North |
 A full frontal view of the Angel of the North |
 Angel of the North |
 Angel of the North in the evening |
 The Angel at Sunset 2006 |
 Detail of the Angel's body |
 Silhouette |
 An artistic view of the Angel |
- ^ The Angel of the North > Background. Gateshead Council. Retrieved on March 9, 2007. “Gormley said of the Angel: "... 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."”
- ^ Angel of the North. AboutBritain.com. Retrieved on March 9, 2007.
- ^ The angel has landed. BBC (February 16, 1998). Retrieved on March 9, 2007.
- Willow Man, also known as Angel of the South
- Gateshead Council's Angel of the North website
- Angel of the North - Antony Gormley's official website
- Icons.org - a government site, featuring pictures of the sculpture under construction
- View on Google Maps
- View in Google Earth (requires that you have Google Earth installed)