Steelworker - Sheffield, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 23.058 W 001° 27.925
30U E 602065 N 5916119
This mural on the gable end of a building in Sheffield is made of 30,000 bricks and shows a steel worker.
Waymark Code: WMRWCE
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 08/12/2016
Views: 4
"
Location:
Gable end of four storey building on Castle Street, near the Law Courts, Sheffield City Centre
Description:
Iconic image dominated by the man's eyes and helmet
Commission:
Sheffield City Council Arts Department and Department of Land and Planning (Planning Division).
Comment:
The history of the steel industry is central to the city of Sheffield and its surrounding area.In recent years the industry (as mining in Derbyshire) has been in steady decline and this image is representative of the past Industrial boom and those who took a part in it. The portrait of the steelworker is not a total invention, but based upon that of an actual individual and then adjusted to fit the medium. The artist Paul Waplington commented: (1984) 'The eyes had to be enlarged, for example, or the pupils and the whites would have been smaller than a brick.'
The strong image has been featured in publications to promote the use of brick, e.g. Brickwork Design Magazine No.3., Vol.3, Jan. 1988; Guide to Successful Brickwork, Edward Arnold, 1993. The piece uses, after all, 30,000 bricks of 18 different types and 5 types of mortar.
'Steelworker' is considered by some to be one of the first modern public art works in the city, which has now expanded culturally embracing the arts within its changing cultural context."
link
A nearby plaque has the following text.
STEELWORKER
completed august 1986
BRICK MURAL DESIGNED BY ARTIST
PAUL WAPLINGTON
CONSTRUCTED BY
SHEFFIELD CITY COUNCIL WORKS DEPARTMENT
A MURAL PROJECT ORGANISED JOINTLY BY THE CITY COUNCIL'S ARTS DEPARTMENT
AND DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND PLANNING (PLANNING DIVISION)
THE CITY COUNCIL GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES THE SPONSORSHIP OF MATERIALS
BY THE FOLLOWING COMPANIES
BUTTERLEY BUILDING MATERIALS LTD; IBSTOCK BUILDING PRODUCTS LIMITED, LUMLEY BRICKWORKS LTD;
MALTBY BRICK CO. LTD; NOTTINGHAM BRICK PLC, PIONEER MORTARS(UK) LTD;
RYARSH BRICK COMPANY, STEETLEY BRICK LTD; WESTBRICK LTD.
THE MURAL USES 18 TYPES OF BRICK, 5 KINDS OF MORTAR AND CONSISTS OF SOME
30,000 BRICKS
SHEFFIELD CITY COUNCIL
WORKING FOR A BETTER CITY