M6 Northbound

Paul Crook (1964 - )

acrylic on canvas

2019
  • About the work

    M6 Northbound explores the Brutalist architectural features of Bill Galloway and Ray Anderson’s 1964-5 Pennine Tower, a cantilevered restaurant and sun deck that once occupied the head of the Forton Services at the Preston bypass on the M6 Motorway. As described by Paul Crook:


    It’s something I have painted a number of times. In many ways, it is symbolic of a golden age of road travel. I often see it when I travel north. I feel it represents a sort of gateway to the north, it signifies entering another kind of north, a place of beauty and escape. In the painting, the service station tower is seen from a window on the southbound side. Essentially, I have used the linear window frame to de-construct the image into four main sections. As in many of my works, the subject is manipulated and processed to fully investigate and understand what I am actually seeing.


  • About the artist
    Paul Crook lives in Leamington Spa, and studied for a BA Fine Art at Falmouth School of Art and MA Fine Art at Birmingham Polytechnic. His work has been exhibited since 1985, with recent solo exhibitions at MAC Birmingham (2013); Visual Arts Centre, Lincolnshire (2016); and selected work in the New Light Prize Touring Exhibition (Scarborough Art Gallery; Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery, Carlisle; and the Biscuit Factory and Bankside Gallery, London, 2020–21); and John Moores Painting Prize 2021, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.
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    Places
    Subjects
    Materials & Techniques
    acrylic (paint), canvas, paint, acrylic painting
  • Details
    Title
    M6 Northbound
    Date
    2019
    Medium
    acrylic on canvas
    Dimensions
    height: 95.0 cm; width: 125.2 cm; depth: 6.0 cm
    Acquisition
    Purchased from the artist March 2021, through the Art XUK project 2020-21
    Provenance
    The artist; from whom purchased by UK Government Art Collection, 17 March 2021
    GAC number
    18939