Cranes and chimney stacks
jagged skyline silhouette
with Winter-thin trees.
by Scooj
Month: February 2017
617. Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare (6)
My trip to Weston-super-Mare last summer was a bit of a treat for me. I managed to grab 20 minutes away from the family who wanted to sit on the beach and eat ice creams, and decided to take a little peek in the Tropicana. The small anteroom, it turns out, is something of a museum honouring JPS and PZY. I’m not so sure how this came about, but there is a lot of their work there.
This is one of the smaller stencils, highlighting the lateral thinking that JPS often applies to his smaller pieces. A small hole in the wall becomes an object for lifting by two fork lift trucks. It is a witty and fun piece, which offsets some of his darker themes. More to come from this treasure trove.
616. Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare (5)
Weston-super-Mare is the home of the great stencil artist JPS, and the Tropicana is home to many of his pieces. This one is in the lobby area between the street and the open area inside the Tropicana, where Dismaland was hosted.
This fine piece is of Peter Weller’s Robocop holding a spray can, I mean, why wouldn’t he? The detail in the stencil is incredible, and all the more remarkable when you take a close look at the texture of the wall.
There were some tourists standing in front of the piece when I was trying to take these pictures, and only reluctantly would they sidle out of the way. their bags however remained. Another classic from the main man.
Time to go home
As the lights go out
and colleagues head for their homes
I remain and write.
by Scooj
615. Moon Street (19)
All the time I am becoming aware of graffiti artists in Bristol that I have overlooked, for no reason other than it takes a while to work out who they are and to be able to recognise their style. One such artist that I have recently been enjoying is Whysayit.
I don’t know much about him, other than that he tends to stick with wildstyle writing, but it is a very distinctive and original style that he uses. His pieces pop up all over Bristol and tend to be found on heavily graphitised walls…no clean backgrounds for this artist. The letters spell out Y SAY (I think), and this is a particularly colourful and happy work. I am enjoying spotting his work more and more.
614. Anchor Road (2)
Well this is the one really, a very very special piece by Andrew Burns Colwill.
In a modest setting behind the Harbourside shops and restaurants stands a container. Painted on the side of the container is one of the best pieces of free street art in Bristol. It is amazing. I have watched as people shuffle past it without looking and then someone will glance at it and recognise what a magnificent work it is. Certainly one of my favourite pieces in Bristol…ever.
There is an elaborate story unfolding in this picture. In the middle we have two figures sitting at an hourglass table playing a game of chess. One is a modern/future man, the other on the left looks to be ancient Mayan or something like that clutching a scroll. There are remnants of a bridge behind them one side built of wood the other of stone, representing the eras these two characters come from, maybe.
Then if we zoom out a little we see more of their surroundings. Above them, floating in the air lifted by balloons with faces, is an island with a city – what it represents I am not sure, but some similar motifs were portrayed in Colwill’s Upfest piece from last year. To the right, the ruined stone bridge can be seen in its full glory, and a bomb shell is sticking out of the ground. To the left the bridge becomes closer to its environmental beginnings…more organic, and there are flowers in the foreground.
Taking another look to the right we observe evidence of civilisation in the form of a stone city on the hill, married with weapons of destruction.
Further to the right still, soldiers are emerging from a war torn forest – looking like a scene from the Great War.
To the left hand side we can see pyramids through the mist in the distance, so maybe the red-robed character is ancient Egyptian. On this side too, there are more figures, tribesmen wielding spears lurk in the trees.
The whole piece would be a fine addition to any art gallery, but here it is for all to see if only they would look. I believe the picture to be about the struggle between the environment and our close connection to it and the consequences of progress. Now I am no expert and I haven’t had the pleasure of talking to Colwill so my description and conclusion are based on what I see. What do you see? Have you looked?
613. High Street, Exeter
In late January I had a meeting in Exeter for which I had arrived a little early. I decided to head for the High Street to see if I could grab a bite to eat. What a great decision that was. I am not familiar with Exeter, especially the central shopping area, so the last thing I was expecting to find was this very impressive piece etched into a wall by the Portuguese artist Alexandre Farto, who works under the name Vhils.
Exeter is not a city known for its street art culture, and this piece is a grand statement in the main shopping area, rather isolated and alone, but very, very impressive. I have seen work by Vhils on the Interweb many times, but seeing it up close like this was a genuine treat.
His unique approach to creative street art, is to etch or scratch away the rendered surface of a wall back to the brickwork to create his large portraits. The overall effect is to carve something with a bit of depth and texture, albeit in binary colour schemes.
I must say that I was really surprised to find something like this in Exeter and praise the authorities who commissioned the work. I am sure it is a constant talking point for residents and visitors alike. Happy days.
612. The Bearpit (37)
Back to the Bearpit and some recent work by ObjectØØØ. As always his very individual style carries with it so much emotion and passion combined with political statement. The figures in his work always feel distorted and tortured by struggle against inequity.
This piece is located at the end of the tunnel where the artificial light meets the daylight, and it is really hard to get a decent photograph, but I have done my best. I like to feature ObjectØØØ’s work whenever I find it because I am fascinated by how much the artist invests himself in his work.
The commentary is a little ambiguous, but I think I know what he is getting at. Great to see some new work from this unusual street artist.
611. Code Street, Shoreditch (2)
The light was fading fast by the time I got to this wall. Had I known of its existence I would probably have tried to get to it earlier and benefit from better light. One of the pitfalls of wandering around aimlessly I suppose. All the pictures have been adjusted to make them less gloomy, but they really don’t convey the magnificence of this collaboration.
Louis Masai and Fanakapan, two of the best street artists in the UK right now, collaborated to paint this wall as part of the Meeting of Styles, London event in May 2016.
The patchwork style of Louis Masai and the helium balloon chrome style of Fanakapan work surprisingly well together and when the subject matter is wildlife conservation, what it there not to like about this piece?
There is a very good piece by London Calling which shows the collaboration at work, in rather sunnier conditions than when I went to visit, which is well worth a gander.
The theme for the event was ‘absolute freedom’ and this piece is entitled ‘Freedom?’. This was a pure joy for me at the end of a very long walk in Shoreditch…the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
610. Code Street, Shoreditch (1)
In my wanderings through the streets and alleyways of Shoreditch it was comforting to come across a familiar sight. So much of the artwork was unknown to me and then this…a piece by Bristol graffiti artist Voyder. All of a sudden I felt quite at home and rather pleased with myself that I could identify an artist in the heart of London’s graffitiland.
I have to say though that I don’t think it is his best work, and not a patch on the stuff he has bee producing in the last few months (in my view). This wall was produced for the Meeting of Styles festival June, 2016. The photographs are a bit dodgy because the daylight was fading, and my crappy little camera was fussing about the light levels. I think I just about got away with it.
Natural adventures 