An unofficial guide to artwork owned by Middlesbrough Council.
Art n’ tha – notes on artwork in Middlesbrough
Composition, John Selby Bigge, 1939
Surrealism was the first artistic movement to properly get its hooks into me as an adolescent. I was lucky enough to be taken on holiday to Florida by my parents in my early teens and as well as going to places like Universal Studios and Wet N Wild we also went to the Salvador Dali…
Transporter Bridge, Anthony Lowe, 1987
This is an artwork commissioned by Middlesbrough Art Gallery in 1987. It was painted by London born artist Anthony Lowe. Anthony didn’t get great grades in art as a student but went on to study in Liverpool, Bristol and the Royal College of Art in London before embarking on a life full of practice, passion…
High Force, William Tillyer, 1974
My parents used to take me to High Force waterfall in Teesdale quite regularly during my childhood. I remember it always being absolutely spectacular but freezing. I recall a giddy rush of school age knowingness when watching a repeat of the Michael Palin and Terry Jones comedy series Ripping Yarns and in one of the…
Frontispiece, Memoirs of County Durham by Tisa von der Schulenburg
My two favourite subjects at school were art and history. I’ve always been fascinated at how the world changes both culturally and historically and how we can learn lessons from the past. For me, there’s nothing better than when those two subjects collide and somehow link to people and events of huge historical significance. It…
Construction in Black, White and Ochre by Victor Pasmore
Modern art eh? What’s it got to do with me? I don’t understand it, it’s not for me is it? It says nothing to me about my life. What’s the point? What good has ever come from it? It’s just nowt… Plus what’s all of this got to do with Peterlee? Eh? I’ll level with…
Emperor Penguin Freddie with Polar Bear Claw Necklace
With my previous posts I’ve possibly given you the impression that Middlesbrough Council only owns art that relates to the Middlehaven area of the town and I’m pleased to say this couldn’t be further from the truth- the collection spans many different eras, styles, continents, genres and mediums. For instance did you know that Middlesbrough…
The Bottle of Notes by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje von Bruggen
This is a drawing by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje von Bruggen from 1988 of their sculpture the Bottle of Notes, which was eventually completed in 1992 and installed in the centre of Middlesbrough a year later. The drawing was used as a cover image for the prominent art magazine Artforum. The sculpture itself now stands…
Masterplan for Middlehaven by Will Alsop
Here we have another interpretation of the area that Lowry painted in the 1950s and Margaret Harrison in the early 2000s. However, instead of attempting to draw and paint the scene as it is, this project looks to an imagined exciting future. The scale model of the plan (which mima has on display) illustrates one…
The Old Town Hall by Margaret Harrison
Margaret Harrison’s practice addresses political concerns, particularly feminist ideals and histories. This painting is part of a series where she looked at the dominant visions of landscape and the built up environment by prominent male artists in museum collections (in this case the previously discussed Lowry in the Middlesbrough Collection) and reinterpreted them via her…
The Old Town Hall, Middlesbrough by L.S. Lowry, 1959
The first piece I’d like to discuss is one of the most popular pieces in the mima collection, “The Old Town Hall and St Hilda’s Church” by one of Britains most famous artists, L.S. Lowry. Lowry’s painting represents an important part of Middlesbrough’s history both socially, economically and artistically. Originally painted as a commission for…
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