Category: 5. Street Art

2688. North Street

This is an extraordinary paste up that I really ought to have posted some time ago, but it slipped through the net until I had a little look back through old files. It is by the Bristol-based artist Gvnly and presents his surreal style with real confidence.

Gvnly, North Street, Bristol, December 2018
Gvnly, North Street, Bristol, December 2018

At first I mistook this for a regular poster and with peripheral vision it looked like a kind of generic ‘circus coming to town’ poster. But as always with these things taking a moment to stop and look has its rewards. There is a lot going on in this colourful piece and there is quite a dreamy type of theme going on. I’m not sure what media were used in the painting, nor do I quite understand how it was turned into a poster (I’m not very good at understanding that kind of stuff). The wheatpaste stayed up for quite a long time before finally seccumbing to the elements. Something a little different from the norm in Bristol, and all the better for it.

 

 

2687. Turbo Island

Turbo Island Has seen quite a bit of action in the last month. First there was a reminder to vote in the election from DNT (not posted), then there was a happy Christmas message from Rezwonk and Decay, and then early in the new year, Mr Klue gave us this lovely abstract piece.

Mr Klue, Turbo Island, Bristol, January 2020
Mr Klue, Turbo Island, Bristol, January 2020

Nothing lasts long on this hoarding before it gets tagged, and I was a bit slow in photographing this one. I do think though that it is a great place for street/graffiti art and I would like to think that this will become a high quality high turnover space for local artists. It certainly is in a fantastic spot with a whole ton of cars passing by every day, and I think that there is an element of curation from the Peeople’s Republic of Stokes Croft.

Mr Klue has included a Mad Hatter’s hat, which is a motif used reasonably frequently in the artist’s work. Great to see a flurry of Mr Klue pieces this winter, because as many will know I am an admirer of his nicely understated work.

2686. M32 Cycle path (49)

It is a great time of year for street art because although there is not a huge amount of action (something of a relief for me I can tell you) on the streets it is a time when artists are doing their ‘first piece of the new year/decade’ and it somehow feels a bit like a fresh start.

Pekoe, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2020
Pekoe, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2020

This new one from Pekoe on the M32 cycle path is a fresh and clean start to the year. Of course the portrait piece wouldn’t be a Pekoe work without the big hair, and what magnificent hair with a crown, hearts and face concealed in it. A wonderful way to kick off January.

2685. Dean Lane skate park (271)

This is just sublime. Although the form of Slim Pickings’ (TES) work is relatively simple and repeated, the way he sets about the colours, fills and attention to detail is masterful. In this piece I absolutely love the complementary colours of the fill and the bubbly shapes. As always the outline and shadow are clean and crisp.

Slim Pickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2020
Slim Pickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2020

The letters TES are set on a floaty cloud of green and red and the letters are adorned with some little light blue drippy bits and whight highlights. The whole thing is set off perfectly with a grey buffed wall, completely worth the effort if you ask me. Really nice piece.

2684. M32 Cycle path (48)

Another New Year collaboration, they are coming thick and fast, this time from Decay and Lens. Decay is of course well known to me and to readers of Natural Adventures, but this is a debut piece for Lens, which is perhaps not at all surprising given that he comes from Melbourne, Australia and is just visiting.

Decay, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2020
Decay, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2020

I do like it when artists from different places hook up and paint together, it makes for a terrific sense of community. This Decay half of this combo is everything we would come to expect from the artist and ticks so many boxes… the shapes of the letters, the extravagant fills and the little ‘motion’ highlights in black on the outside of the lettering to give a sense of movement and energy to the whole piece. Perfect.

Lens, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2020
Lens, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2020

Using a similar colour palette to Decay’s, Lens has an altogether different letter shape, much more angular with sharp edges and corners. Lens’ fills and decorations are absolutely magnificent, and this is an accomplished piece of graffiti writing. It is so good to see some work from an Australian artist, and it is great to see that Lens has included a little shout out to Rezwonk, who often teams up with Decay, a nice touch.

2683. M32 Spot (56)

I think that this is the second collaboration between Logoe and Haka in as many months, and both have apeared on this board under the M32 in the DIY skate spot. It is not often that I like my photographs, always something wrong with them, but I actually like this one, somehow the colours of the piece stand out well against the dark top and bottom, but have not been bleached out by the light to either side.

Logoe and Haka, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2020
Logoe and Haka, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2020

Logoe has written his name in his script style set on a rather nice red tone abstract background. He has added to the work the sentence ‘What a year it’s been’ and he is not wrong there.  On the right Haka has included a character into his chrome writing which I believe to be Hanna Barbera’s creation Quick Draw McGraw – a cartoon I don’t think I ever saw, but rather wish I had… I might have to consult with YouTube. All in all a most satisfying collaboration from these two established Bristol artists.

2682. Moon Street (79)

Here’s a rather nice three-way collaboration from just before Christmas by The Cat Came Back, the ever so familiar Mr Klue and DNT who has rather ‘owned’ this wall over the last few years.

The Cat Came Back, Moon Street, Bristol, January 2020
The Cat Came Back, Moon Street, Bristol, January 2020

I know absolutely nothing about The Cat Came Back, but there are two things I really like. The first is the name of the artist, it’s just kind of bonkers and memorable too, the second is the simple but well constructed piece from an artist who is obviously well practiced in producing this cat character. I don’t know if the artist is Bristol-based but if they are, then I look forward to seeing more alley cats.

Mr Klue, Moon Street, Bristol, January 2020
Mr Klue, Moon Street, Bristol, January 2020

The central portion of the collaboration is by Mr Klue, who seems to be on a bit of a painting spree at the moment. I have commented before on the pulses of activity from Mr Klue. You can go a month or two and see nothing new and then out of the blue several pieces appear in quick succession. I can’t read the letters in this abstract piece, but I don’t think it says KLUE. (Update, The artist tells me it does).

DNT, Moon Street, Bristol, January 2020
DNT, Moon Street, Bristol, January 2020

On the right is another feline-type creature compete with a third eye, and a design style that is so very DNT. His character pieces tend to be mad up of shapes with solid fills and outlined with black, almost like a stained glass effect. Great to see another DNT piece here. (Note to self – a good wall for ‘One wall many faces’).

2681. St Werburghs tunnel (129)

This is Daz Cat’s first piece of 2020 and what a humdinger it is too. On his Instagram feed he talks about the new letter style, which I think works pretty well although I’m not sure it matches the style of the ‘lynx’  – it is almost as if this were a collaboration of two artists.

Daz Cat

The lynx is rather special both in design and in colour selection and naturally carries the signature polygon on its forehead – a tell tale sign that this is a Daz Cat piece. All in all a great start to the decade from an artist I’ve yet to meet… it is only a matter of time.

2680. M32 Cycle path (47)

It has been a little while since I last saw some writing from Nightwayss, so it was a nice surprise to find this ‘NIGHT’ on the M32 cycle path. There is an interesting colour palette and a highly complex design, but I have to say it doesn’t quite work for me and I can’t put my finger on it.

Nightwayss, M32 cycle path, Bristol, December 2019
Nightwayss, M32 cycle path, Bristol, December 2019

Maybe the lack of clear definition around the letters is a little unconventional, and the colours tend to merge a bit. Also the texture of the wall isn’t very helpful with this busy design. I fear I might protest too much, and anyway, photobombing dog seems to rather like it.

2679. Cheltenham 2019 (28)

Aah, pigs swimming, but not any ordinary pigs, it looks like these might be related in some way to the uniformed kind. I absolutely love this rather surreal mural from Peter Sheridan at the Cheltenham Paint Festival 2019. It is an outrageous piece beautifuly painted.

Peter Sheridan, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Peter Sheridan, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

Peter Sheridan painted one of my favourite pieces of Upfest 2018 and he has carried on his brilliant work in Cheltenham. It took a while to find this piece but it was well worth the endeavour. It is not only the bizarre and humorous story of the piece, but the execution is quite exquisite.

Peter Sheridan, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Peter Sheridan, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

Any piece with water is always going to be a challenge, but it is one that the artist has risen to and mastered. There are two other pieces that instantly come to mind when I see this and they are; the Odeith crocodile at Upfest 2018 and the figure in water by Cosmo Sarson at Upfest 2016:

Odeith, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Odeith, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Cosmo Sarson, Greville Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Cosmo Sarson, Greville Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016