<< Public Art
Abstract Murals – Simon Butler
Famous Faces – Bob Olley
Full Circle – Ron Hasleden
Garden Front – Raf Fulcher
Journeys Echo – Elinor Eastwood
Magic City – Basil Beattie
Metro Morning – Anthony Lowe
Parsons Polygons – David Hamilton
Tag Tile – Simon Jones & Robert Belilios
Wakes Week – Stephen McNulty
Location - Jesmond Metro, at the foot of the stairwells
Materials - Vitreous Enamel Panels
Commissioned by - Nexus
Butler’s murals relate to what he perceived as the dominant visual feature of the metro station, the modular structure of its architecture. Using interlocking geometric shapes and a bold use of colour he changed the regularity of the panels cladding the interior walls of the station to signify transitional spaces leading from or to the platforms.
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Location - Monument Metro Station Blackett
Street Entrance
Materials - Acrylic on Panel
Commissioned by - Nexus
The mural depicts fourteen of the region’s most charismatic figures looking out through the windows of a metro train. These portraits, which include Cardinal Basil Hume, Jimmy Nail, television presenter Mike Neville, Robson Greene and Brenden Foster among others, celebrate the region’s breadth of individual achievement and talent.
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Location - Nexus House, corner of Westgate Road and St James’ Boulevard
Materials - Neon Tube
Commissioned by - Nexus
A circle of light, 11m in diameter, made up of two concentric rings of bright yellow and white neon, Full Circle is an anamorphic projection. Its shape is dependent on where the viewer is standing. Walking north along St James’ boulevard the neon shape of a flattened circle wrapped around the building transforms into a complete circle of light. On passing, the circle will appear to distort again.
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Location - Jesmond Metro, to the rear of the station
Materials - Stone, Steel and Wood
Commissioned by - Nexus
Garden Front offers a number of ways in which the sculpture and its relationship to the surrounding area can be viewed. Developed from the language of seventeenth and eighteenth century garden design the sculpture seems at odds with the functional formality of the metro station. The glazing through which it is viewed may even suggest one is looking at a detail of a classical garden preserved within a museum showcase.
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Location - Platforms 1 & 2, Longbenton Metro Station
Materials - Vitreous Enamel Panel
Commissioned by - Nexus
Journey’s Echo consists of four pairs of panels, two per platform linked by text composed by the artist and students from St Mary’s RC Comprehensive School. The pairs of panels butt together, like the pages of a book, with visual reminders of the city and sea. The pebbles run throughout the work, like journeys between the city and the sea they are repetitious, but no two are alike.
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Location - Entrance to Manors Metro Station
Materials - Vitreous Enamel Panels
Commissioned by - Nexus
Magic City is an abstract mural that fuses the energy of its making into a permanent metaphor of the city. Expressively drawn lines and painted shapes convey a sense of speed and momentum. The drama of metropolitan life is conveyed through the collision of coloured forms whilst the black lines travel across the surface, superimposing other forms of energy and space.
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Location - Exterior of Regent Centre Metro Station
Materials - Ceramic Tiles
Commissioned by - Nexus
Metro Morning depicts travellers and metro staff aboard rush hour metro trains. In making the mural for the entrance to the station the artist photographed his subjects during the morning rush hour and their life-sized portraits are incorporated into the work. The tiled mural combines a stylised rendition of the trains with photographic silk-screens of their passengers.
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Location - Blackett Street, adjacent to Monument Metro Station
Materials - Ceramic Relief
Commissioned by - Nexus
Parsons Polygon, a ventilation shaft for the metro tunnel beneath the street, is a ceramic relief marking the achievements of the engineer Sir Charles Parsons (1854-1931), the designer of Turbinia – a turbine powered vessel which in 1897 achieved 34 knots. The designs pressed into the clay are based on Parson’s engineering drawings.
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Location - Longbenton Metro Station on the footbridge between platforms
Materials - Ceramic Tiles
Commissioned by - Nexus
The artists worked with local young people, exploring their attitudes to the urban environment and the effects of graffiti. The title refers to tagging, the way graffiti is used to sign individuals presence and mark territories. The work incorporates fifty abstracted tags and marks, in cartoon speech bubbles printed onto pastel coloured tiles.
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Location - Central Station Metro above escalators linking the Metro and the railway station concourse
Materials - Vitreous Enamel Panels
Commissioned by - Nexus
The title of the mural, Wakes Week refers to the traditional annual holiday taken in the north of England. This abstract work superimposes thick angular lines over a fine grid of white horizontals to produce a vibrant pattern of dynamic line and colour.
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