Category: 5. Street Art

2472. St Mark’s Avenue (1)

Life is full of surprises, and earlier this week I took the dog for a road walk because it has been a bit wet and the parks are getting muddy. On the walk I took a few turns down roads I have never been to before. The reward… I discovered St Mark’s Avenue – a little secret in the heart of Easton where there are stunnung pieces by Bristol artists going back several years and quite untouched by taggers. How could I have not been here before and how many other little oases like this are there in Bristol?

Silent Hobo, St Mark's Avenue, Bristol, September 2019
Silent Hobo, St Mark’s Avenue, Bristol, September 2019

This piece dates back to 2012 and is by the magnificent Silent Hobo and what’s more remarkable is that it is pretty much in mint condition – only one of the eyes has been goofed up by some idiot. It is a great tribute to the artist that it is still here but it is more than that, it is a yardstick from which to measure his development over the last seven years. It is a beautiful portrait piece painted on a pebble dash wall which in itself is something of an accomplishment. The girl has a soulful look but her eyes are looking straight at you, something that his more recent figures don’t do in the main.

I can’t tell you how exciting it was to find this piece and indeed the whole road, I felt a bit like an archeologist uncovering an ancient tomb. More to come from this gold mine.

2471. Back alley, Weston-super-Mare

I don’t know Weston-super-Mare all that well, in fact I think I have only ever been there three times in my whole life. The most recent trip was just me with the dog and a camera. As I looked for street art, I tried to make a note of where I was or take pictures of street names, but this little back alley managed to keep off my radar, so I am calling it back alley.

JPS, Back alley, Weston-super-Mare, August 2019
JPS, Back alley, Weston-super-Mare, August 2019

The rather troubling piece at the end of the alleyway is a leprachaun painted onto a black door by JPS. The stencil is one layer, but most effective in this rather creepy place. I expect that the character is from a horror film, but not being a fan of the genre, I don’t know which one.

2470. North Street, Weston-super-Mare

There is a fascination among street artists with Tim Burton films. Maybe it is because the characters in them lend themselves so well to being copied and spray painted or maybe there is some kind of connection with his slightly macarbre subjects. In the heart of Weston-super-Mare is this superb stencil of Emily from Corpse Bride.

 

PZY, North Street, Weston-super-Mare, August 2019
PZY, North Street, Weston-super-Mare, August 2019

The artist is PZY whose work is often sited near the work of JPS and Fawn – these three seem to be fairly tight, and there seems to belittle room for other artists in town. This multi-layer stencil is beautifully worked and is about half life-size. Some fine work indeed – it would be great to see some of her pieces in Bristol.

2469. M32 roundabout J3 (169)

I have been very taken with these delightfully colourful and ephemeral pieces by Eden that appeared on the M32 roundabout a month or so ago. The works appear to be simple in composition, but there is a complexity to them that probably goes unnoticed by most people.

Eden, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2019
Eden, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2019

Take a closer look at these streaks of paint and you can see a large crowd of people milling round and going about their daily business. Take a closer look still and two of the figures near the bottom have struck up a relationship as indicated by the little lines above their head. Is it a conversation? Are they in love? are they Arguing? Take a look around the piece and you start to see other interactions happening. A lovely and interesting piece from Eden.

2468. Dean Lane skate park (250)

It always feels a little unusual finding a T-Rex piece in Dean Lane probably because she doesn’t paint here as often as in North Bristol, so coming across this rather nicely done piece of writing was a pleasant surprise.

T-Rex, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019
T-Rex, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019

This piece oozes with confidence and competence. The letters are beautifully done, the character dinosaur with its cheeky grin, the leopard spot and giraffesque fills in the letters and the 3D blue shadowing are all masterfully created with what appears to be total ease. She really is a fabulous writer and we are lucky to have her brightening up the streets of Bristol.

2467. Cheltenham 2018 (3)

As I mentioned in a previous Cheltenham post, this was my frist visit to the town’s paint festival and I was luck enough not only to see some of the incredible pieces from this year, but also some of the permanant walls from last year too. This was one of those wallsb with an iconic piece by London- based artist Gnasher.

Gnasher, Paint festival 2018, Cheltenham, September 2019
Gnasher, Paint festival 2018, Cheltenham, September 2019

I have a soft spot for chameleons because we have one in the family called George, who although he belongs to my daughter, might as well be mine given that I feed him, clean him out etc etc. He is a Panther Chameleon, the same as the one in the Gnasher piece… (note to self – take a picture of George posing on a spray can).

Gnasher, Paint festival 2018, Cheltenham, September 2019
Gnasher, Paint festival 2018, Cheltenham, September 2019

Gnasher is an extraordinary artist who uses a photorealistic style and knocks out some absolutely stunning work. I like the way this piece has a spectrum of colour starting with greyscale on the left shifting to full colour on the right – perhaps the influence of the chameleon.

The great thing about Chelteham is that there isn’t much of a culture of tagging, so pieces like this have remained untouched for a year.

Gnasher, Stucley Place, London, November 2017
Gnasher, Stucley Place, London, November 2017
Gnasher, Leake Street, London, 4 July 2016
Gnasher, Leake Street, London, 4 July 2016

2466. Cheltenham 2019 (5)

How fabulous to see a Decay piece in his old stomping ground of Cheltenham and what a stunner it is too. This writing, that we are all so familiar with has been given the ‘hades’ treatment, looking like the fiery colours of the Earth’s core. Actually it is a bit of a protest piece and has a message: ‘Flames rage while the Amazon burns’

Decay, Paint festival 2019, Chemtenham, September 2019
Decay, Paint festival 2019, Chemtenham, September 2019

I visited the festival twice, once on the Friday and again on the Saturday, but although I missed Decay painting this, I did catch up with him for a short while, and as ever it was a real pleasure. Like so many of his peers, he is so modest about his work which really has hit a new level this year.

2465. Cheltenham 2019 (4)

I don’t really have the right words to say about this piece by Deeds at the Cheltenham Paint Festival this year. It is simply quite brilliant. A study of cherries in a silver bowl. This is where fine art and street art meet…no blurred lines, this street art is fine art.

Deeds, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Deeds, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

I have no idea how this piece was created, but I do know that Deeds works a lot with stencils, and pushing the boundaries with them, however I just can’t see how this might be from stencils. Instead of pondering too long, I’ll simply enjoy the piece for what it is rather than how it came to be.

Deeds, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Deeds, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

It really is a classical still life piece and has more than a hint of Jeff Legg about it. I love it and celebrate it. Deeds has definitely raised the bar with this piece.

2464. Cheltenham 2019 (3)

The whole Cheltenham experience was new to me, but I had heard of the Honeybourne Line before I went to visit the town for the Paint Festival earlier this month. This disused railway line is now a beautiful footpath leading from the station into the town centre. The tunnels under a footbridge often play host to street/graffiti art, and the walls are buffed each year for the Festival. I will be posting more pieces from this spot in due course, but this first one is by Thisone.

Thisone, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Thisone, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

I have seen (and posted) some of his work from London, but this is the first time I have seen his work away from the capital. His archetypal work is in shades of black and white with an animal or bird as a central character, usually dressed with some jewellery. This curious piece meets all of these criteria, but the beast is an unusual one, looking like a cross between a bird of prey and a rat. I was lucky enough to meet the artist, and will talk more about our encounter when I post his other Festival piece in due course.

2463. Millennium Square

In Millennium Square, a cultural centre of Bristol, a new piece by Jody has been commissioned and the piece is riding high on the crest of the wave of enhanced public awareness of environmental issues.

Jody, Millennium Square, Bristol, September 2019
Jody, Millennium Square, Bristol, September 2019

I’m not too sure where the commission has come from, but the subject matters owes an awful lot to the iconic film Jaws (one of course). Instead of an unwitting swimmer, the sea is full of floating plastic and the ‘prey’ a plastic bottle of water. The sad truth behind this sensational and clever piece with a strong message is that it does tell a story of our heavily polluted seas. It is a homage (probably the wrong choice of word) to the Anthropocene epoch. Such a piece of public art could not have even existed a hundred and fifty years ago. What have we done? Nice piece by Jody.