Angel of the north
ARTIST’S MURAL SALUTE TO NHS HEROES
A MURAL celebrating our healthcare heroes has appeared in Manchester city centre.
The artwork, by street artist Akse, shows a medical staff member wearing PPE, with a fitting halo painted overhead.
It’s appeared in the Northern Quarter on the wall of Chinese restaurant Sweet Mandarin.
Akse is famed for his hyperrealistic street art, which has included murals of Game of Thrones’ Arya Stark, Ariana Grande and David Bowie.
It’s not the first time he’s painted a medically-themed work in our city either.
In November last year he had residents stumped with a painting of a mystery woman, which turned out to be part of a cancer charity campaign launch. The talented street artist added the finishing touches to his new High Street painting yesterday. Sweet Mandarin owner Helen Tse said: “It was the famous Manchester Banksy akse_p19 who asked could he use our wall to do a tribute to nurses and the NHS. I said of course. No charge.
“It will only be on the wall until the end of May unless the residents agree for it to stay longer. “I’d like it to stay longer as it is so fitting a tribute to the nurses to say thank you, we are so appreciative of you.” Helen also confirmed that the woman in the painting is a real nurse in Manchester.
She added: “We are still cooking for the NHS and supporting the frontline workers where we can and we still clap every Thursday for them. We should never tire of giving them thanks.”