An update on the Grainger Market commission
Find the original commission call out here
Over the past few months, artist Jed Buttress has been developing five large suspended sculptures and the accompanying trail of fifteen sculpted “monkeys” that will become part of the Grainger Market.
The artworks will be revealed in their new home in spring 2026, but we wanted to share a short update and show you how Jed’s work is progressing behind the scenes.
A central focus of Jed’s process has been building a visual and material language that belongs to Newcastle.
The surfaces, patinas and textures used across the sculptures draw directly from the city’s architecture: the copper cupolas of nearby rooftops, the studded rivets of the Tyne Bridge, and the distinctive oxidised greens seen throughout the historic city centre.
These references root the work in the place it’s made for, giving each sculpture a familiar-but-surreal quality that mirrors the character of the market and the city as a whole.
Five suspended sculptures
Jed will suspend five large-scale sculptures within the market.
The five pieces, named amphora, boat, cornucopia, bulb and fountain, take an everyday or historic form and reimagine it at scale.
They’re designed to sit high-up in the market’s vaulted ceilings, encouraging people to look up and discover the unexpected.
Working across digital sculpting, hand-cast textures and layered metal powders, Jed has been refining the silhouettes and surface patterns so they are striking and eye catching but also connect with the existing architecture of the market.
Fifteen monkeys
Alongside the five main works, Jed is including a trail of fifteen smaller monkeys, a direct nod to a 1903 newspaper story about “fifteen monkeys” that escaped into the rooftops of Newcastle and reportedly made their way into Grainger Market.
Jed’s maquettes bring that story back to life with monkeys that climb, perch and “escape” across beams, pelmets and ledges.
Each one is inspired by a different piece of local architecture, from brickwork to bridge rivets to copper tiles. These smaller sculptures are lightweight but detailed, and will be installed both as part of the main suspended works and throughout the market.
FIFTEEN MONKEYS ESCAPE / The Northern Daily Telegraph, 1903
“Some alarm and much excitement has been caused in the central quarter of Newcastle during the past two days by the escape of fifteen monkeys from the establishment of Mr Charles Harris, naturalist, of Clayton-street.
They had slipped the bolt of a window partially opened for purposes of ventilation, and making their way by roofs and chimneys invaded Grainger Market, a tailor’s shop, the Pine Apple Inn, and other business premises in the vicinity.
An exciting chase was kept up by Mr Harris and his assistants until at last all were captured with the exception of one, which held out till yesterday, when it quietly returned to the quarters and capitulated.”
We’ll be sharing a full launch announcement in early 2026 that brings together everything you can expect from Creative Central NCL between January and April 2026 — including this commission, new murals in Pink Lane, utility cabinet artworks, a poetry trail, our third programme for The Late Shows programme and the forthcoming Forth Lane lighting commission.
For now, these early visuals offer a glimpse into how the Grainger Market sculptures are evolving, and how central Newcastle’s heritage is being reimagined by artists and creatives.
