Category: 5. Street Art

2699. Shoreditch, London (36)

I was inspired by a recent post from Dosenkunst to go back through some old folders and pull out these amazing wheatpastes by Sten and Oli from a trip to Shoreditch in London back in November 2018. I have already shared some of their paste ups in two previous posts and still have more on file (watch this space).

Sten and Oli, Shoreditch, London, November 2018
Sten and Oli, Shoreditch, London, November 2018

The rather forlorn characters remind me of childhood toys who have long since been forgotten by their owners, and have grown up sad, bitter or resentful – there is something unsettling about them, but also very endearing. I guess the word I am looking for is ‘outcasts’. These little characters are outcasts.

Sten and Oli, Shoreditch, London, November 2018
Sten and Oli, Shoreditch, London, November 2018

Each wheatpaste is so beautifully crafted and carefully cut out before finding the perfect spot to paste them. This one looks like he has just discarded the orange peel, or maybe is just about to pick it up… who knows?

Sten and Oli, Shoreditch, London, November 2018
Sten and Oli, Shoreditch, London, November 2018

I know nothing about the artists, or is it just one artist? And there is very little information on the Interweb, so we’ll just have to wonder who they are.

Sten and Oli, Shoreditch, London, November 2018
Sten and Oli, Shoreditch, London, November 2018

All of the characters in this set are wearing crowns (a symbol used a lot in street art), and this last one is having a bit of fun exposing himself.

2698. M32 Cycle path (50)

Bnie is a reasonably regular visitor to Bristol who I think comes from Wales, possibly Swansea, I think that because she often paints with Smak, although not on this occasion. I do like it that graffiti/street artists make the trip to Bristol to paint because it all adds to the amazing diversity of work we see here. Bristol is one of a handful of cities that has the full spectrum of street art from tagging right through to high-end commissions. Some towns and cities don’t have the street art culture, but hold a festival to draw in great artists and of course the tourists. Places like Chichester for example, but it is all a little bit too sanitised for my taste. The art is invariably great, but the culture is missing.

Bnie, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2020
Bnie, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2020

Anyhow, this is a lovely piece by Bnie and deploys several of her trademarks, most notably the decorative patterning she uses in her fills and 3D work. There really is an awful lot to like about this modest piece tucked away on the M32 cycle path. I seem to have quite a few of her pieces in my archive, I’ll try and dig some out.

2697. At Werburghs tunnel (133)

I have been posting pieces by Ments for a few years now, and I consider him to be one of the most creative writers in Bristol. I say this because most of his work has an organic feel to it, but seldom are his pieces even remotely similar.

Ments, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020
Ments, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020

In this one, which was part of a collaborative paint with Sled One, Ments has gone with a mash up of angular spikey green shapes and metallic spheres. The overall effect is a bit peculiar and If I am honest this fusion needs a little bit more work. I can’t for the life of me see any writing resembling MENTS, but it is probably there somewhere. Great to see some early new year work from this fabulous artist.

2696. St Werburghs tunnel (132)

Already Kool Hand has appeared in Natural Adventures twice in 2020. Perhaps he has had some time off, and what better way to fill time than with a bit of spray art? This was the left hand side of a collaborative paint with Daz Cat (already posted), but merits an entry of its own.

Kool Hand, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020
Kool Hand, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020

The piece brings together the two elements we often see from Kool Hand, some writing and a character. It is less often that we see both together. The cartoon style character is nicely drafted and simply filled. I’m not too sure what the Adidas bag is, but I think it might be a weed pouch that every young man in Bristol seems to carry over their shoulder these days.

2695. River Avon (3)

Context is very important to our comprehension of the world around us. I passed this piece last week on a walk I rarely take and I knew I recognised the artist, but my brain just couldn’t compute who it was, because I’m not used to seeing his work outside of the places I would normally come across it. It wasn’t until the return leg of the walk that the penny dropped.

Riverside walk 010 10 January 2020_edited

This is of course a fabulous chrome piece by Slakarts that judging from its condition is fairly recent. Although I have been taking pictures of art by Slakarts for a long time, it is only recently that I have started posting them, due to finding out who he was only a few months ago. Ever since, he seems to have been churning out these faces with alarming regularity, which is all rather good really.

Those glasses are spectacleular (see what I did there?) and I imagine look striking from the opposite bank of the river.

2694. River Avon (2)

I took a riverside walk with the dog last week and found this recent and absolutely brilliant Nevergiveup (@followmyrabbits) piece. The weird thing about this was that as I was walking along the pathway I saw two men talking and I was sure I recognised one of them. I carried on anyway for about ten minutes before turning back along the path to get back to the car. I passed the two gentlemen again and the penny dropped. I had indeed recognised one of them… it was only Nevergiveup himself.

Nevergiveup, River Avon, Bristol, January 2020
Nevergiveup, River Avon, Bristol, January 2020

We had a little chat, and I asked if he had just painted this rabbit pair – he said he had not done it that day, but a weeek or two before. It was looking so fresh still.

I am however a little confused… Since the artist left Bristol for Bath, he seems to still be painting in the city with alarming regularity. I told him I can’t keep up with him and he said he can’t keep up with himself. At least I have a whole ton of rabbits in storage to share with you if things quieten down… as if.

2693. St Werburghs tunnel (131)

This is just the kind of collaboration that I absolutely love, and that one of the artists is Kid Crayon makes it a whole lot better. The other artist, I am Ian (Ian Moore) is new to me, and I understand from his Instagram account hasn’t  painted a wall for five or six years.

Kid Crayon, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020
Kid Crayon, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020

The tunnel in St Werburghs has been a very busy venue for artists this autumn/winter, I suspect because we have had so much wet weather for such a long time.

On the left of the collaboration is a snoozing king by Kid Crayon, complete with orb and sceptre, and large bags of money.

I Am Ian, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020
I Am Ian, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020

While the king snoozes, a naughty goblin-like wannabe king is making off with some stolen cash and the crown, leaving behind a mischievous fart cloud in his wake. I rather like this character and if this is anything to go by, I can’t wait for I Am Ian to hit a few more walls this year. The whole thing is a witty story beautifully portrayed, and everything I look for in a piece of street art. I salute you KC and IM. Turn the letters around and you have a new crew name MICK!

Kid Crayon and I Am Ian, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020
Kid Crayon and I Am Ian, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020

2692. St Werburghs tunnel (130)

Wow, I love it when Sled One just pitches up unannounced and then modestly produces his magic like he did in this most recent example in St Werburghs tunnel. The piece features an octopus (what is it about street art and octopi?) sporting a bucket hat and fondly embracing an umbrella, possibly a little too fondly.

Sled One, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020
Sled One, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020

There is a lot of perspective and movement in the piece, something that Sled One does so well, and he is a master at creating textures and depth with the use of shading. This is yet another crazy (in a good way) piece from the artist, and made all the more remarkable by the fact that he had a fractured wrist and ankle at the time of painting this, a week or so ago. Just brilliant.

2691. Dean Lane skate park (273)

It seems like my eyes have been opened. Either Turoe One has been painting a lot more in recent months than over the last five years or so, or I have got my eye in and am spotting his work where before it passed me by. Either way, it is great to find lots of his work and in so many styles too.

Turoe One, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2020
Turoe One, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2020

Turoe One is very versatile and changes his style a lot, unlike some other artists who have a very distinct style that they repeat with variations. This piece resembles a kind of blend between Soker and Dibz (or maybe that’s just me). Anyhow it is a very neat and tidy work with clean lines and for interest there is a fine pink decoration running through the piece. More Turoe One stuff in the pipeline.

2690. Dean Lane skate park (272)

This is a really interesting piece to write about because it has given me an opportunity to introduce you to an artist I have never posted before here on Natural Adventures. I have a whole ton of his work in my files, but didn’t quite know how to break the ice. The artist is Taboo, or at least that is what I will call him (her?) until I know more about them, which currently is zilch. You can see the word TABOO in reverse in this piece (I thought it said EAT when I first saw it) with the OO being made out of the eyes of the skull.

Taboo, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2020
Taboo, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2020

There is a definite style here that is consistent across all of his work, with quite bold lettering that is in a font all of its own. The artwork is quite crude, in so much as it is not clean and crisp like so many graffiti writers in Bristol, but it has something in the raw approach that makes it rather effective. The skull appears to be firing beams out at the letters, which I am guessing might have been a bit of an afterthought.

All in all I rather like this different kind of piece from Taboo and over time look forward to posting more of his work and understanding more about the artist. A good start.