Am I mistaken?
I think I heard the call of
a green woodpecker.
by Scooj
Author: scooj
I am Stephen. I live in Bristol, UK. I decided to shorten my profile...to this: Wildlife, haiku, travel, streetart, psychogeography and my family. Not necessarily in that order.
2014. The Bearpit (173)
It has become a rare thing indeed to find much new work in The Bearpit, which is why finding this lovely piece by Skor85 was such a nice surprise. I’m afraid the quote is a little lost on me, but it feels like there is an interesting story behind this piece.
Skip forward about fifteen minutes and I have found some stuff on the Interweb that probably explains the background to the piece, and it would seem to be linked to an art project by Pierre Huyghe and Philippe Parreno.
I am pleased that I had spotted a Manga connection and was going to comment on it, but feel a little fraudulent writing about it, knowing that I have been able to confirm my hunch subsequently. I love Skor85’s work which nearly always has a dream like narrative to it. It has been a long time since I have seen anything by her.
2013. Dean Lane skate park (189)
Back to home soil now and the warm and familiar sight of a Dean Lane piece by Laic217. This is the second recent piece that I have seen where he has been playing with these red eyes which are slightly disconcerting in their non-human (robotic) quality.
There is a slight shift in style too in this overall piece. To me it has a water-colour kind of quality and looks like it has been lifted from an artist’s sketchbook. This feels like Laic217 is moving on to a new level, where his confidence and competence is allowing him to experiment more.
I believe he was supposed to be painting this wall with Cort and Cros, but had arrived long before the others and had pretty much finished before they arrived. This is a pity, because it is a long time since I last met this elusive artist.
Wet walk
At my feet he lies
wet dog smell filling the air
I’ll light a nice fire.
by Scooj
Tasha Bee
Keeping it colourful with this gallery of beautiful faces by Bristol artist Tasha Bee.
All photographs taken by Scooj
- Tasha Bee, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2018
- Hazard, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, January 2018
2012. Allen Street, New York (4)
Allen Street in East Village is a bit of a mecca for street art, but it is not concentrated like some of the spots in Bristol, but rather it is dotted about along the entire length of the Street. This exceptional piece by Joe Miller was rather new when I photographed it in October 2017.
The piece is a tribute to Charles Bradley a well known soul singer originally from Florida, but who had lived in New York for more than 20 years, and had died the month before from cancer. The mural has such incredible energy and movement and captures the singer doing what he loved and did best. It is an amazing piece.
2011. Ludlow Street, New York
On my walks around New York, I somehow ended up near this piece on several occasions, I guess it was easy to recognise and see from a distance, so it had imprinted on my mind. It is an interesting designed writing piece by Felipe Pantone.
The whole thing, the bright prism colours, the black and white stripes, the precise straight lines all remind me very much of 1980s design, when there was little or no subtlety and everything was vibrant and ‘in your face’. I guess what I am saying is that I get some strong retro vibes from this piece. A nicely thought out and painted piece.
Waterfalls
Relentless rain taps
rat tat on Velux windows,
slooshes from gutters.
by Scooj
2010. East Village, New York (3)
Have a beautiful day! Wandering around East Village early in the morning before the rest of the family got up pretty much guaranteed that I would have a beautiful day, and that was before we’d even thought about sightseeing. Finding wheatpastes by Phoebe New York simply added to my state of happiness.
It is difficult to have regrets when you manage to see so much street art, but I know that there was a whole bunch more that I missed. Perhaps we’ll just have to go back again some day. Some of the Phoebe New York paste ups were really faded and looked rather less sophisticated than her more recent work, so I am guessing that some were already quite old.
Her modus operandi seems to be relatively straightforward…a PNY head stuck onto a cut-out of a model from a magazine and a message of some sort. It is a great idea, but the equally clever bit is in finding a great place to paste the piece up. Various doorways seemed to be favourite, although competition for space can be ferocious at times.
The first time I came across Phoebe New York was at Upfest 2016, but I have a feeling that she might not have travelled all the way over to Bristol but could have had an accomplice who pasted her pieces up…only a hunch. It matters not, I love her work to pieces.
2009. Rivington Street, New York (2)
I find it hard to believe that it was October 2017 when I went to NYC with my family. In many ways it feels so recent in others it feels like a lifetime ago. One of the great things about being there was staying in Rivington Street, which was at the heart of a whole bunch of great street art spots, and it wasn’t even me who chose the hotel!
I was surprised and delighted to find quite a few pieces by Bristol’s very own Nick Walker, including this one at the top of a hotel in the street. I think this piece is called ‘Raining Love’. I appreciate it isn’t a very good picture, but it was a long way up and I only had my crappy little camera with me on this particular walk. This is the first of a few more posts from that trip.
Natural adventures 