Blink and you might well miss it
GATESHEAD Interchange has grown into a unique gallery of art in the near four decades since it first opened in 1983.
Perhaps that’s fitting. It’s the closest station to Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, and a place where buses leave every few minutes towards the Angel of the North.
The Interchange is home to a wide and eye-catching array of art installations, many of which the public may not be aware of.
Gateshead also boasts the first piece of public art to be commissioned for a railway tunnel.
Space Travel, a sequence of 115 images taken from the interior of car parks throughout the UK, was located between Gateshead and Newcastle in 2005.
This experimental artwork is made up of 115 light-reflective panels visible from the right side of the train in the tunnel towards Central Station.
The eye catches the images either as individual moments or a short ‘film’ creating the illusion of passing through a deserted multi-storey car park.
But how about these other artworks at Gateshead Interchange?
Peacock (2011) at the Jackson Street entrance is by Lisa Johnson, who was at Gateshead College when she won a competition for a new commission to brighten one of the main entrances.
The five-metre peacock, whose feathers provide a welcome greeting in dozens of world languages, was inspired by the many nationalities who come to Gateshead as students, visitors or to settle.
Opening Line (Danny Lane, 2004), is a huge sculpture at the centre of the bus interchange facing stands N-Z.
Danny designed the work as a series of picture stories featuring icons from myths and legends.
The work is made from laser-cut steel and etched glass.
Bridges (artist unknown, 2014), depicts the seven bridges spanning the Tyne Gorge, while Nocturnal Landscape (Keith Grant, 1983) at the ticket concourse is a shimmering mosaic which transports passengers to a magical Norwegian coastline, reflecting the historic connections between the North East and Scandinavia.
The Big Picture (various, 2012) again on the ticket concourse is a mosaic formed by asking passengers to send in photographs of the many local places they got to by train.
Space Invaders (2007), at various locations, is by urban artist Invader, and was commissioned as part of Baltic’s Spank The Monkey show.
Intended to be temporary, the works were never taken down and remain dotted about the Interchange.
Night and Day (Keith Grant, 1983) are two giant mosaics facing each other at either end of the Metro platforms, and Space Travel (Elizabeth Wright, 2005) is an experimental artwork made up of 115 light-reflective panels visible from the right side of the train in the tunnel towards Central Station.
Nocturne (Nayan Kulkarni, 2007) brought new life to the QEII Metro Bridge between Gateshead and Central Station when it was repainted in 2007 with its two-tone blue colour scheme.
In Sports Day (1986) on West Street, Mike Winstone makes a reference to Gateshead’s reputation for sports more humorous than heroic – the four-metre high figure is in the sack race.