Sculptor Anthony Gormley’s Angel of the North looms above the A1 in Gateshead, visible for miles around. A Martian anthropologist would probably take it for some kind of religious icon. But what’s it doing there? Gateshead council’s art team say it’s there to “enhance the fabric of the urban framework, involving the public through the creative process, adding value and creating a sense of ownership”. Southern art critic Brian Sewell says it’s just “bad engineering”.
Almost a decade has passed since the Angel was unveiled, back in 1998, and it’s now become an accepted part of the landscape, familiar to anyone who drives along that stretch of the A1, and privately loved or hated without fuss. And the part it’s apparently played in the regeneration of once-deprived, once-boring Gateshead has become an inspiration for public art projects around the UK. Marie Nixon, an Arts Council North East communications officer, says, “The Angel of the North is so successful, it’s become a symbol not just for the north-east but for the whole of England. It’s recognised all over the world as well as all over the country. As well as the knock-on effects of building something that huge for local industrial works and steel works, the real benefits are in civic pride.”
