'Wakes Week' by Steve McNulty

Central Station

Above the escalator at the Central Station entrance to the Metro

1985

'Wakes Week’ is a large abstract mural composed of a sequence of vitreous enamel panels which extend over two walls, at right angles to each other.

Its ordered surface, of horizontal white lines, is disrupted by bold angular coloured lines that run off in all directions. Conveying a sense of energy and vibrancy these lines break free from the underlying structure of the overall composition. In this sense the work visualises ‘Wakes Week’, the traditional summer holiday which marked the annual closure of factories and mills around the north of England.