Centrepiece artwork in Gorbals revival attacked by vandals

Published on Monday 25 February 2008 21:21

THE centrepiece of a £1 million art project needs major repairs after it was hit by vandals.

The Gatekeeper became an icon for the regeneration of Gorbals in Glasgow when it was unveiled in 2002. But the vast glass photograph that formed one half of the landmark has to be replaced.

The toughened glass could withstand the weight of a man bouncing on it, but not the small projectile that is thought to have struck a vulnerable point, causing cracks to spread across the 17ft by 12ft centre panel. Water and weather then combined to ruin the work, which is being held together with glue, Perspex and plywood.

The sculpture, which is part of the Crown Street regeneration project, is among dozens – some life-size human figures, others tiny pieces – that were funded by the developer Redrow under the "Percent for Art" scheme, which contributes part of the overall cost of houses to the environment they share.

The artist Matt Baker, who worked with his former business partner Dan Dubowitz to create the work, said: "It's a bit of a shame the work has been damaged. It seems that nowadays everyone in the Gorbals is an art critic, but fortunately most people have really taken the artworks to their hearts."

The former architect was responsible for the large bronze sculpture of a flying woman, dubbed "The Hingin' Witch" by some locals, which formed the other half of the artwork. The whole installation can be seen from half a mile away on the route north into the city centre.

In 2006, the development which houses the artwork won the Royal Town Planning Institute's New Neighbourhoods award.

Repairs had been delayed as builders consulted Mr Dubowitz, who now works in Italy after the artists' partnership, the Heisenberg group, split.

Mr Baker is still working on other major works in Gorbals. He said the vast majority of locals enjoyed the art in their community, with most pieces still in mint condition, despite fears from sceptics in the project's early days.

The cost of repairs will be met from the building's insurance.

The Gorbals regeneration project has been a major effort to transform what had been one of the city's most notorious tenement slum areas.

The original dwellings were cleared during the 1960s, but the high rise flats that replaced them did little to improve the Gorbals reputation for gang violence, thievery and drunkenness.

However, during the early 1990s, the first positive steps towards creating what is now known as the New Gorbals were made with the demolition of tower blocks.

These were subsequently replaced with a mixture of private and social housing, resulting in rocketing house prices, and have become an international model for regeneration.