Angel of The North, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
© TopFoto.co.uk / Spectrum Colour Library
Instantly recognisable against the Tyneside skyline, Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North is probably the country’s most famous work of public modern art.
Unveiled in 1998, it is seen by an estimated 90,000 people every day, either from the East Coast mainline railway or the A1.
Standing on a site that was once occupied by a colliery, the work pays tribute to the industrial heritage of the North East.
The Angel spreads its 54m wings to welcome all who enter Tyneside, and
remind them of the workers who once mined coal in the ground underneath.
Biography
Read all about the making of the north-east's most famous work of public art, and the star appearances it has made on TV, and what the public thought of it when it was finished...
Features
Explore the role of angels in works of art, meet some people who say they can locate your own guardian angel for you, and look at the controversial history of public art.
