Showing posts with label Gateshead England. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gateshead England. Show all posts

Friday, August 12, 2011

THE ANGEL OF THE NORTH...and me

The Angel of the North is a contemporary sculpture designed by Antony Gormley, which is located in Gateshead, England.

It is a steel sculpture of an angel, standing 20 metres (66 ft) tall, with wings measuring 54 metres (177 ft) across.[1] The wings themselves are not planar, but are angled 3.5º forward, which Gormley used to create "a sense of embrace".

It stands on a hill on the southern edge of Low Fell, overlooking the A1 and A167 roads into Tyneside, and the East Coast Main Line rail route, south of the site of Team Colliery.
The huge sculpture is impressive with its placement on a hill, which gives it even more height and visibility. Not all the English agreed with the original idea, nor do all like the finished product, but, to many, the Angel is now an icon of the North of England.

The proportions of the Angel, with the apparent lightness of the wingspread, which is more than twice the height of the tough steel structure, lend the sculpture an appearance of both grace and sturdiness which I admire.


Up close, the enormous size of the Angel is quite apparent, with just the lower leg dwarfing me.


I'm still there - the incredible shrinking woman.

 
A back view of the Angel from the motorway layby.

The picture and quote at head of the post are from Wikipedia.

UPDATE: Mrs MadPriest took the two photos of me near the statue. I thank MadPriest and Mrs MadPriest for their welcome and kindness to me during my stay in the Newcastle area, although it must have been inconvenient to have me hanging about in the days immediately preceding their house move. I offered to help pack boxes, but I wasn't allowed. At least, I had my own place to stay, so I was not underfoot ALL the time. On the very afternoon of the day they moved, MadPriest took time out to take me to the train station.