Month: February 2018

Thursday doors

Door 19

Graffiti door, Lydstep Terrace, Bristol
Graffiti door, Lydstep Terrace, Bristol

This door is at the end of a derelict factory building or warehouse in Lydstep Terrace. I can’t find out much about what the building used to be, but it has no roof and is in a pretty shoddy state. I managed to find a council document that refers to the site as an unlisted building of merit.

It is pretty clear that this door is closed to all visitors. No entry, shut, barred, locked…you’re not getting in.

The long wall to the left of the door is a magnet for graffiti and tagging and has used by street art wannabes as a practice wall. The graffiti here has come to something of an abrupt halt however as developers have recently moved in and are getting quite busy doing something. It will be interesting to see what they make of this rather unexceptional building.

Gentrification in progress. The taggers will have to move on.

 

by Scooj

 

Thursday Doors – Norm 2.0

 

My family…

 

Morning rush over

cat, dog and chameleon

all fed and happy .

 

by Scooj

1313. Jessop Underpass

I have known about this wonderful piece by Loch Ness for an age, but never managed to get near enough to photograph it. It is ever so slightly off the main drag, and too far away for me to reach it in a lunchtime walk.

Loch Ness, Jessop Underpass, Bristol, December 2017
Loch Ness, Jessop Underpass, Bristol, December 2017

It is a classy piece from this fine Bristol artist who combines colours and form to great effect. Many of his older murals feature monsters, but more recently he has worked on these wildlife-themed imaginary beings which transform from anumal into pattern and design.

Loch Ness, Jessop Underpass, Bristol, December 2017
Loch Ness, Jessop Underpass, Bristol, December 2017

I happen to think that this is a particularly fine example of his work, and really should have brought it to your attention sooner. I will try to do better.

1312. M32 roundabout J3 (66)

This is the first time I have posted any work by Corupt although I have seen tons of his stuff over the years. As a graffiti writer I think he likes to stay well under the radar, and I have only once seen him at work, and I think he quite wanted to keep a low profile.

Corupt, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2018
Corupt, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2018

I have seen a lot of his work on the walls at Dean Lane skate park and here at the M32 roundabout. It seems to me that he rather favours these high up spots, often above other works. I think the idea is that if he sprays high up, his work will be there for longer. Seems to make sense to me.

Corupt, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2018
Corupt, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2018

I must confess that I haven’t paid too much attention to his writing, although I see quite a lot of it, but am breaking that habit now with these first two works. I haven’t yet formed an opinion about his work, which all seems to conform to a particular style format.

Corupt, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2018
Corupt, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2018

Both of these are colourful works, and I will enjoy posting more and seeing how his work develops over time.

House sparrow

 

House sparrows twitter

from gutters and garden shrubs

warming tepid hearts.

 

by Scooj

1311. M32 roundabout J3 (65)

There is a reliable consistency about the work of Soker. Always high quality and always delivered with some panache. In this piece of writing e has opted for a chrome finish on a wall background. The chrome complements the Rusk piece next to it.

Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2018
Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2018

There is a big thing for chrome writing, and it seems to be the colour of choice for many graffiti writers, I guess because of the impact it has. If I am honest, I’n not too sure about it, I feel it is a little over-used to achieve impacts, however what it lacks in subtlety it makes up for in clout. A nice piece of writing.

1310. Dean Lane skate park (109)

Sprayed either at the end of December or beginning of January this is another wonderful rabbit from Hire. This artist consistently churns out good work like this or his wildstyle writing throughout the year, and although I haven’t bumped into him for a while it is great to see his works making an appearance.

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2018
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2018

When I first became aware of Hire’s work, it was mostly in The Bearpit, however he seems to base himself almost entirely in Dean Lane these days. I am not sure what the writing says, but I would like to think it says something like happy new year. And would’nt you know it, I just typed ‘happy new year Polish’ into Google and it wasn’t this, so I changed Polish to Russian and guess what…I was right. Nice one Hire.

Close to perfect

.

Late walking to work

little traffic, bright sunlight

bish, bash, bosh; sorted.

.

by Scooj

1309. Shoreditch, London (3)

When looking for street art outside the borders of Bristol, it is always a genuinely pleasant experience to find a piece by a Bristol artist. And so it was in this fortuitous instance while wandering around Shoreditch fairly aimlessly, because I don’t know my way around. On a hoarding I saw a very familiar sight that was rather comforting, a couple of pieces by Decay.

Decay, Shoreditch, London, February 2018
Decay, Shoreditch, London, February 2018

Although Decay is a migrant Bristolian, a buit like me, I still consider him to be part of the city. In this first piece, Decay looks like he is branching out a little from his usual concentric shapes – I have seen another piece similar to this one recently. I think it works.

Decay, Shoreditch, London, February 2018
Decay, Shoreditch, London, February 2018

Right next to this first piece, Decay has painted one of his works which is altogether more familiar. I believe he sprayed these only a day or two before I photographed them, which is great, especially as I had no idea he had been in the area. A serendipitous trip to London, certainly in my case.

Decay, Shoreditch, London, February 2018
Decay, Shoreditch, London, February 2018

Two more fine pieces from Decay.

1308. Shoreditch, London (2)

Shok1 is a very well known London street artist whose x-ray pieces are instantly recognisable. In this side street, which I almost missed, he has sprayed a remarkable picture of a hand tossing a drinks can away.

Shok1, Shoreditch, London, February 2018
Shok1, Shoreditch, London, February 2018

I remember watching him at Upfest 2016 when he sprayed the x-ray skull of a unicorn and couldn’t believe the painstaking work that went into creating the misty effect of his pieces. He would spray a mist, step back, return, spray a mist, step back, return dozens of times over until the layering and tone was exactly right.

Shok1, Shoreditch, London, February 2018
Shok1, Shoreditch, London, February 2018

I think that Shok1 has cornered the market in this kind of work, a little bit like Fanakapan and his helium balloons. It would be interesting to see what other styles he could do, with his exceptional understanding of anatomy.