2124. Thomas Street North

I have been writing about and photographing Bristol street art for about four years now, and I suppose I like to think that I know quite a lot about the contemporary scene. Now when you talk to people about Bristol and street art or graffiti, the conversation pretty much always starts like this:

“oh, Banksy, he is from Bristol isn’t he?”

To which I reply

“yes he is, but there are a whole ton of brilliant and talented street artists in Bristol who are not Banksy”

Generally the point I am making when I do this is that Bristol is not a ‘one trick pony’, and that 99.9% of the street art in Bristol is not by Banksy, “come and take a look at the vast array of talent on offer”. Some shrug their shoulders “m’eh” they say and look for some other iconic brand to schmooze with. Others open their eyes and enter into the secret garden that is Bristol street art. Welcome.

A digression.

I didn’t even know about this Banksy piece until about a fortnight ago, and found it while I was fannying about on Google streetview. What this goes to show is that I have so much more to learn, and I am open to that, completely. The piece is called Rose Trap and must be quite old. It is protected by a piece of Perspex and sited outside a residential back gate, such an inauspicious place.

The piece is so typically mischievous, as you’d expect from Banksy. I know little of the history of this little gem, but I expect there is quite a lot of information about it on the Interweb.

Finding this treasure is one of the little perks of this hobby (is it a hobby or an obsession? Is there something in between that sounds a little more cerebral?). Banksy.