Officially the UK’s tallest mural, Nomad Clan's Athena Rising soars a monumental 46.8 metres above the ground.
Using the full length of Bruntwood’s ‘Platform’ building as its canvas, which can be viewed from Leeds train station’s platforms far below, the striking 11 metre-wide design centres on an owl in flight, alongside the moon and a crown.
It took internationally-acclaimed street art muralist pair Nomad Clan, dubbed ‘one of street art’s finest female duos’, just over two weeks and hundreds of cans of spray paint to complete the work. The duo – Cbloxx and AYLO (aka Jay Gilleard and Hayley Garner) – worked up to eight hours a day, harnessed in a cradle, suspended down the side of the building, through heat, wind and rain.
Owls historically signify intelligence, knowledge, wealth, learning and transition, most of these ideas are derived from ancient meanings/practises and have been used symbolically by many cultures. The mythology relates to wisdom and femininity. The owl was a symbol for Athena, goddess of wisdom and strategy, before the Greeks gave their pantheon human forms. According to myth, an owl sat on Athena’s blind side, so that she could see the whole truth. In Ancient Greece, the owl was a symbol of a higher wisdom, and it was also a guardian of the Acropolis. Diana, the Roman response to Athena, was strongly associated with the moon, and also the owl. The Pawnee and the Sioux saw the owl as a messenger (akicita) to the first of all evil creatures (Unktehi). While the Lakota tribe had an “Owl Society,” where the warriors fought primarily at night and painted dark rings around their eyes because they believed that would allow them to have an owl’s acute vision.
The gold sacred geometry inspired loosely by the study of mathematics in nature is key to the concept. Geometric symbols are often used in ancient architectural designs as well as being repeated in natural forms, it is a common denominator in humanity that connects us all in a fundamental way. Cities are increasingly becoming disconnected from nature and its easy to see why, but at the heart of everything, underneath the complexities of urban life, money, social media, politics, technology, bullshit… we are all still part of this massive space rock.
The statement piece is part of our citywide public art initiative A City Less Grey and was fully funded by LeedsBID (Leeds Business Improvement District). The project aims to animate the city and incorporate works of art onto and into Leeds’ buildings and streets.
