A map of London
printed on the underside
of my umbrella;
incongruous reminder
of my original home.
by Scooj
Month: July 2017
918. The Bearpit (80)
Another Bearpit piece from the effervescent J. Dior. His child-like style is one of the most recognisable in Bristol, and his work usually seems to tell a story, although the story is often somewhat difficult to unravel.
I understand the J. Dior is an Italian artist, or so I am told, and that he is rather absorbed in his own space. I have not yet met him, but given the frequency that both of us are in The Bearpit, it is just a matter of time.
I think that J. Dior divides opinion. Some see him as a rather poor artist taking up decent wall space, others see his work as innovative and fresh. For me, the jury is out for a while, but I am drawn to his story telling.
917. Moon Street (33)
Still nothing from Upfest 2017 yet…be patient.
It is always great to see new work in Moon Street, it seems to have slowed a little in recent months. There seems to be a general tendency by some artists to move away from the Stokes Croft area because of the density (in all senses of the word) of bombers and taggers. A pity really.
This is a fine quick piece by Boogie, and the second of three street pieces that he left as gifts during his short visit to the city recently.
This really is one of my favourite walls in Bristol, and even though somebody tried to sabotage the artists by screwing two doors to the wall it hasn’t made the blindest bit of difference. Rather it has become part of the texture of the wall. Boogie has obvious talent and class, and I really like the way he makes a feature out of the two Os in his name. A fine piece.
916. Dean Lane skate park (68)
I was very excited when I saw this paste up by Lemak, and exceptionally talented Bristol stencil artist. Excited because I had seen a short video of him creating it on his Instagram feed only the day before. So this really was hot off the press.
I passed by the wall last Friday and it has been badly tagged, so it was fairly short lived, which is a pity. Whenever I see great pieces that are dogged or ruined I am reminded of the fantastic line in Bladerunner – ‘the light that burns twice as bright burns half as long‘ and so it often is with great street art.
I love the crisp collage effect with the graff all around – some similarities with the work of PichiAvo?
915. M32 Spot (8)
I am fully aware that today is the second day of Upfest, and that you might be expecting a post from the wonderful Bristol street art festival. I’m afraid It’s not going to happen for a while. I will have an enormous amount of work to do with photographs and getting to grips with artists  before I can start to publish. If you want instant gratification, then follow #upfest2017 in instagram, it’ll be smoking!
For now I will post this characterful piece on one of the pillars under the M32 by Deamze. The faces on this work are quite unusual, and not something that I would ordinarily associate with Deamze.
There is a figure on each of the four sides of the pillar, each striking a different pose. I have only posted three of them, because the fourth is impossible to photograph due to the light conditions.
If you want to see the fourth side, you’ll just have to get down to the M32 Spot and check it out. I rather like this piece, and love the jeans and pink shirt, and the burger looks almost good enough to eat.
Inclement weather
Raining in Bemmie
and the crowds may diminish
but not the spirit.
by Scooj
914. Dean Lane skate park (68)
I met Hire the day he was just finishing off this piece. I told him how much I liked his rabbits as well as his writing, and he told me the back story to this particular piece. So, here’s a thing, even when a bit of graffiti or street art appears to look like nothing out of the ordinary, there are nearly always stories sitting behind them. Sometimes these stories are overt, other times covert.
Interestingly, another polish street artist, NEVERGIVEUP, was just around the corner sizing up some tarmac on the skate park for a piece he was going to work on that afternoon. Neither seemed to know each other, but both are polish and spray rabbits. Very different styles, but some commonality. Both really nice people too.
913. Bedminster
Another fine skeleton and flame piece from the inexhaustible Laic217. This time in cooler blues and less of the fiery furnace approach. This is a nice spot, and perfect for the kinds of works that Laic217 likes to do.
The tracksuit is rather special, and I guess representative of things that the artist is familiar and comfortable with. I wonder if setting fire to spray paint is something that people actually do for a bit of a laugh, but it looks rather dangerous to me.
Laic217 is certainly becoming more and more expert at producing an expressive skull, giving it a plasticity that allows expressions and maybe even emotions. The eyes here are rather good too. A nice piece.
Upfest 2017
Street artists converge
on Bristol for a few days,
painting the town red.
by Scooj
Nepali life
In the cool thin air
apple moons laid out to dry;
Autumn provisions
by Scooj
Natural adventures 