scooj

5431. Dean Lane skate park (631)

Pura Decadencia and Mono, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020

I took a short journey into my archives to find this small collaboration, something I rather like doing from time-to-time, as there are so many fantastic artworks that never make it into this blog. These pieces were painted in Dean Lane way back in December 2020.

Pura Decadencia, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020

To the left is an iconic mega-tag piece featuring one of Pura Decadencia’s mouths, complete with vampire teeth and and very long tongue. I really like her straightforward design that remind me a little of the Rolling Stones logo, filled with mischief. Pura Decadencia paints only occasionally, and I was encouraged by her recent piece in Brunel Way, and hope she’ll bring more of her artwork to Bristol before too long.

Mono, who I believe is no longer living in Bristol has been concentrating on her illustrations and animations that are really fantastic. This is a creative and imaginative piece of a rat (?) smoking a joint. The rat’s tail stems directly from its head, there is no body. The piece as a whole feels slightly provocative and edgy, which is sometimes so easily forgotten with a majority of rather more sanitised street/graffiti art. Altogether this is a fun collaboration decorating utility boxes, which deserve to be painted.

5430. M32 Cycle path (224)

Bnie, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2023

It feels a little bit repetitive banging on about how good Bnie’s work is, given that I say so every time that I post her work, but it is pretty much impossible not to do so. Bnie has been pretty busy this summer, not only on the streets of Bristol, but on the festival circuit too.

Bnie has played with her font a little in this piece, with a slight relaxation on the form with some arrows and pointy bits at the base of the letters. The letter fills are clever, looking almost reflective, as though dappled sunlight is bouncing off the piece. The letters are lifted with tidy 3D drop shadows and yellow and orange borders. Painted as part of an RBF paint jam.

The Cheesewring

A battle royale

Saint Tue versus a giant

stone throwing contest

by Scooj

From Wikipedia – A local legend says that the Cheesewring is the result of a contest between a man and a giant. When Christianity had just been introduced to the British Islands, the giants who lived at the top of the mountains were not happy about it. The saints had invaded their land and were declaring their wells as sacred. One of the larger giants, Uther, was given the task of ridding their land of the saints. He confronted the frail Saint Tue, who proposed a rock throwing contest. If Uther won, the saints would leave Cornwall. If Saint Tue won, then the giants would convert to Christianity. Uther took his turn first and easily threw a small rock to the top of nearby Stowe’s Hill. Tue prayed for assistance, and picking up a huge slab found it was very light. One after the other, they threw their rocks, stacking them up in perfect piles. When the score was twelve stones each, Uther threw a thirteenth stone, but it rolled down the hill. Tue picked up this fallen stone, and as he lifted it, an angel appeared to carry it to the top of the pile of rocks. Seeing this, Uther conceded, and most of the giants decided to follow Christianity after that.

5429. Brunel Way (223)

This piece from Conrico is the second in a long wall paint jam collaboration with a dystopian future theme. The first piece was a ‘Terminator-style’ crocodile but Kool Hand. Conrico, who has a wonderful natural style, has painted a female figure handling a futuristic gun and standing in front of a four-wheel drive vehicle with its headlights on.

There is tons of atmosphere in this piece, and in common with other Conrico pieces, there is a great story going on here. The dark buildings in the background and rubble to the left of the piece, speak of a war zone, in the narrative of many films in this genre. I can’t help thinking that there is a little bit of Sarah Connor (The Terminator) in the character, which intentional or not is a good thing. A nice touch is a shout out to Dibz and Fade whose epic piece was painted over during this paint jam.

Kool Hand, Conrico, Werm, Korbe and Daz Cat, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2023

5428. M32 roundabout J3 (502)

Pekoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023

There is never a time when I am not thrilled to find a Pekoe piece. She belongs to a small handful of artists who define the Bristol scene and ones that I always keep a special eye out for. This modest piece on the M32 roundabout marks a return to her portraits, which have been playing second fiddle to here writing recently.

This pink faced girl with green hair is in three-quarter profile and is glancing out of the side of her eyes, giving her a slightly irritated or angry look. With great lips and the signature tears, this small piece reminds us what a great artist Pekoe is. It is amazing that she has found the time to paint this piece, given her bust summer festival itinerary.

5427. M32 Spot (169)

Creamylines, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2023

I thought that Creamylines might have been a bit of a flash in the pan when his pieces tailed off last year, so it was hugely exciting to find this piece recently under the M32. His work lends itself particularly well to columns, although it would probably work equally well in a landscape format.

I like to think of his work as being similar to stained glass, with each element being surrounded by a solid line, like lead around glass. The way the colours work together would also not look out of place in a window with light shining through. As with much of his work, the sun is prominent with rays emanating out across a scene strewn with little characters and eyes. Great stuff from Creamylines.

5426. Dean Lane skate park (630)

Awkward is an artist who makes occasional appearances in Dean Lane, although I’m not sure I have seen his work anywhere else in Bristol. He specialises in his mega-tag character faces that are usually accompanied by a speech bubble.

In this piece, the unnerving character painted in red has huge yellow comedy eyes. The nose is represented only with two nostrils, resembling a skull. The speech bubble has the letters AWK sitting above WARD. The whole piece is set within a blue cloudy background with a few bubbles. These rare appearances, I feel, don’t fully do justice to an artist who has clear and obvious talent, but who may be constrained by time to put into his artwork. His pieces are always worth looking out for though.

5425. Sparke Evans Park (78)

Solar, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, July 2023

Solar is definitely an artist I would like to know more about, as he is something of an enigma to me, and I have never had the fortune to meet him, or indeed most of his elusive PLB friends. His work is quite unique and touches on the anti-style, but not in a way that is similar to others who paint that way. Although he changes his fonts from piece to piece, there is a consistency about his letters within a piece.

The most striking thing about this work is the colour combination and contrast between the blue and black letters and the red and orange surround, set on a blue buffed background. I can’t really describe the letter forms, but can say that somehow they are typically Solar, and the gentle way he has of almost disguising his name. I will soon be able to pull together a gallery of his work which will be a great showcase of his individual style.

5424. Brunel Way (222)

Kool Hand, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2023

Only a few days ago I was talking about the frequency of epic paint jam walls, and this is another example from a Bristol group of artists, including the ever improving Kool Hand. The artist returns to one of his favoured animal characters, a crocodile, for this fun animated piece, which perhaps takes a little inspiration from the Terminator movies.

The crocodile, with a peeled back face, revealing a robotic skeleton, is holding a ‘boogie box’ or ghetto blaster on his left shoulder and clutching a spray can in his right hand. The piece is nicely finished, and is a bit of a ‘stretch’ piece for Kool Hand whose work is becoming more diverse and creating narratives. The full collaborative wall is below:

Boat people

Hateful policy

creating floating ghettos

whipping up racists

by Scooj

* I am too worn out to describe by feelings about our shameful fascist government, but therein lies a problem. Their relentless far right policies grind people down and through new laws repress protest and opposition.

How can it have come to this? Growing up, I felt huge progress was made towards a fairer and more tolerant society, but it has taken only 13 years to return us to 1970s Britain, which was in my view a hateful, horrible place.

I despair.

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	scooj on 7621. M32 roundabout J2 (…

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