Few sculptures have loomed as large in British culture as Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North (1998). The steel sculpture of an angelic figure, located in Gateshead, England, stands 66 feet tall with a 177-foot wingspan. Visible from the A1 motorway, it is seen by an estimated 33 million people every year. Now, it casts its shadow over the dystopian landscape of 28 Years Later, the third installment of director Danny Boyle’s zombie series, which premiered on June 20th.
In the film, Angel of the North is seen in a state of overgrowth and corrosion, evoking the desolation that follows a viral outbreak in the U.K. Its appearance reinforces the film’s exploration of religious disillusionment and political unrest, aligning with a wider critique of conservative ideology in Britain. Across Boyle’s series, he depicts a state of collapse that has increasingly mirrored real-world anxieties about British isolationism—particularly in the wake of Brexit.
When first installed, Angel of the North was framed by Gormley as a tribute to coal miners who once worked beneath its site. “Men worked beneath the surface in the dark,” he said. “Now, in the light, there is a celebration of this industry.” Yet Gormley has also acknowledged the work as a response to Margaret Thatcher’s industrial policies, which he felt signaled the end of the country’s manufacturing legacy. In a 2019 interview with The New York Times, he said the sculpture challenged the idea that the Industrial Revolution’s impact was finished. Despite his intentions, the work faced early backlash, with some local critics calling it an eyesore and others—citing the work’s winged form—making inflammatory comparisons to Nazi-era aircraft.
The Angel of the North is part of Gormley’s larger “Case for an Angel” series, which includes several works exploring the tension between human vulnerability and industrial strength. These sculptures typically feature elongated, winged human forms that reflect Gormley’s interest in the body as a site of spiritual and emotional resonance.
Gormley is currently the subject of a solo show at Dallas’s Nasher Sculpture Center, titled “Survey.” The show, on view through January 4, 2026, is the artist’s first major museum show in the United States.
