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Stifling and airless
recovering lungs struggling
sweaty, heavy day
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by Scooj
Month: July 2022
4561. Brunel Way (163)
There is never a time when I am not excited to find a piece by Hire (pronounced Hee Ray, just in case you were wondering), whether it is one of his character rabbits or some of his highly technical writing, it always brings a smile to my face and it feels like life is good, in spite of the turbulent landscape.
This gorgeous piece under Brunel Way is an absolute beauty. The letters are easy to read and the artwork less frenetic than we might be used to. Set on a clean, buffed grey wall and with glowing orange tones, the red letters and deep grey and white 3D shadow are clearly defined and stand out. This is a finely crafted piece from a talented graffiti writer.
4560. St Werburghs tunnel (299)
With the very congested field of artists currently painting in Bristol, and the addition of Upfest and a trip to Porto, my cup overfloweth with captured images of street art (I am still covering June art!). It is important that in all this excitement I don’t ignore our good old regulars who paint day in and day out to keep our walls decorated.
This is a lovely piece in the tunnel from Kool Hand, featuring his orangutan character using a spray can with pink paint to decorate the tunnel walls. The piece is framed in a black bordered rectangle, which almost looks like a window into the orangutan’s world. A nice stand alone piece.
Look up
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Swifts’ shrill, sweet singing
black sickles against blue skies
the height of summer
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by Scooj
4559. Dean Lane skate park (507)
It has been observed by many that Andy Council is absolutely on fire this year. There seems to be no stopping him. Maybe he has more free time on his hands, maybe the commissions have dried up or maybe he is just getting out more doing what he loves with his friends. The upshot, whatever the reason, is that there are some sensational pieces coming from Andy Council and this double ammonite/nautilus piece is simply wonderful.
What is interesting about Andy Council is that he seems to be really modest. As one of the best known artists in Bristol, he doesn’t seem to be ‘bigger’ than any wall, and he seems to be as happy painting smaller walls as he would be on some of the larger ‘feature’ walls. This playful piece has, I believe, been recently ‘augmented’ so I am happy to have got a clean copy of it. More to come soon.
4558. Porto (10)
This is the last in this short sequence of pieces from Porto, but for me they represent a fun departure from the focus on Bristol street art, and make an introduction to the different styles that you can find in different cultures around the world.
The fact that I am sharing this piece with you at all can be attributed to the street art hunter’s philosophy of being guided by curiosity – what lies down that alley…? should I walk just a little bit further…? Had I not followed my instinct, I would never have found this magnificent piece by Mesk in an alleyway off the beaten track. The soft tones in browns and pinks, are a bit of as trademark of this artist, and work really well together. The cartoon-style is also really appealing. I have another couple of pieces by Mesk from this trip and look forward to sharing them with you soon.
Short list
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No succession plan
a star-studded cast of nine
every one a dud
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by Scooj
• The Conservative party are about to impose a Prime Minister on the electorate, one we haven’t elected, from a field of candidates all trying to out ‘right wing’ each other. Has ever a bar been set so low?
All I can hope for is that they can’t go on hoodwinking and deceiving the public forever. Bring on a General Election now!
4557. Porto (9)
Another prolific artist in Porto is Costah. What is really enjoyable about Costah’s art is that he has embraced the whole edgy culture of street art and seems to combine legal with non-legal walls and is equally at home with paste ups as he is with spray paints.
This cat, painted on a derelict building on a steep hill just north of the river is a really classy piece. Just by looking at it, you can see straight away that it is painted by someone who knows and understands street art. The stylised cartoon cat is a real charmer and seems to fit in so well with the sun-baked wall it is painted on. More too from Costah to come.
4556. Porto (8)
A prolific, and it would seem well respected, artist in Porto is Hazul. Over the three days that we were there exploring the city we encountered a hatful of abstract murals by the artist, some new, some old and some that looked like commissions. These are the first three…
The first is a beautiful piece in black, white and red (the colours of early Decay pieces), with nice curvy lines and patterns. The crystal shape is almost like a signature and appears on a lot of Hazul’s work.
The next piece looks more like a commission, and is nicely placed on the side of a building. The abstract shapes seem to have a consistent form and the colour selections work wonderfully well. This is a really carefully thought out and skilfully executed piece.
The last of this mini-gallery is likely to make it into a Thursday doors compilation at some time in the future. The shapes in this piece are not unlike those in the piece above. Once again some great colours have been used. Hazul seems to be an artist who really knows and understands their craft. More from Hazul to come.
Spectacle
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Old warring factions
each one hungry for power
the gloves are off now
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by Scooj
• The chaos left behind by Boris Johnson’s long-awaited resignation is resulting in an inglorious bun-fight for the Conservative party leadership… again.
A very poor quality field, most of them tainted with the corrupt Johnson regime, they lied for him let’s not forget. A real race to the bottom.
Natural adventures 