I have a very busy day ahead today, so I only have time to do a really quick couple of posts. When I last met Mote a couple of weeks back, he was rediscovering his mojo, after a quiet period. These monsters in my favourite Moon Street are evidence of his newly rediscovered enthusiasm.
Mote, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2023
Mote has not only been painting with a high frequency, but he has also been visiting a few new spots too. I believe this is his first piece in Moon Street, and he has filled the space here with a nice cheeky quick one.
Kool Hand, Conrico and Daz Cat M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023
I’m not sure that I will ever work out this wall properly. Sometimes pieces will stay on it for months and turnover will be practically zero, other times it can change twice within a week, and I believe that this recent charming triptych by Kool Hand, Conrico and Daz Cat has already been painted over.
Kool Hand, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023
The left-hand panel is a wonderful leopard character from Kool Hand, wearing a floppy bucket hat. The fingers appear to be magically zapping the letters KH, and the blue/purple feline is set on a fantasy woodland backdrop, painted by Conrico I would guess.
Conrico, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023
In the middle is a rather shady looking character shrouded in a cloak and holding a spray can, probably preparing to do a spot of illegal spraying by the look of it. This is a really nicely worked piece by Cobnrico, with some great attention to detail in the creases and folds in the cloak and hat. A classy character.
Daz Cat, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023
On the right-hand panel, Daz Cat has departed from his customary cat characters to give us this woodland sprite holding a couple of frogs, one of which is holding a toadstool. I’m not too sure what the smoking head is all about, but this section, in fact the whole thing, definitely has a bit of a dreamy fantasy feel about it. An unusual and entertaining collaboration from three fine graffiti artists.
Well, it has to be said that Hypo is absolutely smashing it at the moment. Not only is he painting more frequently than I can remember, but he is also raising his own personal bar with each new piece he creates, which I guess reinforces the idea that the more often you paint, the better you will get.
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2023
This fiery piece, once again has an attractive symmetry to it, which the letters HYPO somehow allow him to achieve. The letters are beautifully crafted with loads of accessory features, such as arrows and bars. The colour transitions are beautifully done, and the whole thing is really rather beautiful. This is another great piece from Hypo this year.
Airborne Mark, Lighthouse Community Gardens, London, April 2023
I will be posting pieces from this remarkable spot, which I found quite by accident when visiting London for a work workshop, over the coming weeks. Some of the artists were familiar to me, and some not. This stunning piece falls into the latter category.
Airborne Mark, Lighthouse Community Gardens, London, April 2023
The origami swan held together by paper clips is by Airborne Mark, and is a really beautifully painted piece. The artist had created a fabulous sense of depth with fabulous use of shadows, light and shading. Adding in the paper clips elevates the piece from being great to fantastic… imagine it without them. I have never come across Airborne Mark before, but I really think we ought to get him over to Bristol at some point, maybe for Upfest?
Aspire, Lighthouse Community Gardens, London, April 2023
Every once in a while, the stars align and things work out and all is well in the world. These are moments that we must cherish and draw on to help us through more challenging times when it feels like there is no hope.
I had been invited to facilitate a workshop in London at the end of April, at a small community centre in the heart of Stratford, adjacent to the Olympic Park where there has been a phenomenal amount of redevelopment over the last decade or so. As I approached the location from the station, I spotted an entire block of hoardings, entirely covered in graffiti writing and street art – this was a good day, before the workshop had even begun. Even better, the hoardings surrounded the Lighthouse Community Gardens, the location of the workshop. Guess what I was doing before and after then meeting and in our lunch break.
Aspire, Lighthouse Community Gardens, London, April 2023
I was surprised at how many of the pieces on the hoardings were by artists I am familiar with, including this beauty by former Bristol artist Aspire. Bristol’s loss was definitely London’s gain as you can see from this outstanding sparrow perched on an ice lolly. Aspire’s work is so distinctive – almost always featuring birds, incorporating some pixelated elements. More recently, Aspire has featured human relationships with birds in the form of litter or food etc – the lolly plays this role here.
I was in a very good place, and the workshop went really well too. A red-letter day.
It must be time now to declare Mr Klue the ‘King of St Werburghs tunnel’. I am guessing that he must live locally, because you don’t get to see his work elsewhere in Bristol very often. In the days when The Bearpit was a thing, we would see Mr Klue pieces there and in the Stokes Croft area, but not now.
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2023
This piece spells KLUE in the artist’s preferred colouring and ephemeral abstract style. It is beautifully presented on a black background, and it is great to see one of his pieces in daylight, rather than under the tunnel lighting which distorts the colours so much. Mr Klue has certainly hit a rich vein of form and productivity, which is great news for admirers of his work.
I actually photographed these doors earlier this week, which is something I haven’t done for a while. More often, I tend to rifle through my archives to find a set of doors for posting on Thursdays.
Old market is a bit of a strange part of Bristol, caught between architectural periods and bordered by busy roads. It looks a little bit tatty these days, but at one time would have been a bustling market area, and some of the doors and doorways reflect this.
There are lots of pubs and places to eat or be entertained, but the volume of traffic has taken away any sense of community or cohesion – I guess it happens to many cities around the world I guess. Faded glory.
I hope you enjoy the doors – rather too many doorfies for my liking, though!
Black door/gate, Old Market, Bristol, May 2023
Plain door, grand doorway, Old Market, Bristol, May 2023
Pub cellar doors, Old Market, Bristol, May 2023
Pub cellar doors and gates, Old Market, Bristol, May 2023
It is the writing around the door that tells you something about a previous life of the building, Old Market, Bristol, May 2023
Well, that brings proceedings to a close for another week – may I wish you a very happy weekend.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
I’m not sure that I have seen an Elvs/Dibz collaboration before, so this one in Dean lane recently is a bit of a rarity. The two have combined to share a colour scheme and theme, which I think is based on Disney’s Beagle Boys characters. These characters are familiar to me, but I don’t think I have ever read or watched anything with them in.
Elvs, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2023
You can always tell a good collaboration when you don’t know who has painted certain bits of it, and while it is obvious who painted the writing, it is not so clear with regard to the characters. My guess would be that the two around the ELVS were by him, and the one popping out over the top of DIBZ was by Dibz. As always, Elvs’ writing is first class, and instantly recognisable with his very fat, elaborate lettering. The fill fades are pretty decent too.
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2023
Dibz is no stranger to writing/character combinations, and his skills are on show here. His wildstyle graffiti writing can be difficult to decipher if you don’t know what it says, but usually it is DIBZ, so you are on fairly safe ground. Talking of safes, there is a story in the piece, which involves the cracking of a safe using explosives. The character on the left is plunging the detonator, while the one on the right blocks his ears… the cartooniest of cartoon plots. This is a fabulous collaboration from two immensely talented artists.
Natural adventures 