Whichever way you look at it, this end of Hepburn Road is one of the dingiest roads in Bristol, but it is a bit of a Mecca for graffiti. Occasionally there are some good pieces that appear here, usually at this top end.
This is a quick one from Smak, who is now firmly established as a writer in the pages of this blog. Not as elaborate as some of his work, it is nonetheless clean and tidy and oozes quality.
I have said it many times, it is always a real pleasure when artists from out of town come to Bristol and leave us a gift, and what a gift this was from London artist Tommy Fiendish.
I don’t know too much about the artist other than that he is at art college in London and he enjoys Hip Hop. I did however find this brilliant post on his Instagram feed which I highly recommend taking a look at – it features this piece and the throw up that went over the top of it. What a way to fight back!
A highly detailed and technically strong piece, it was most eyecatching and on the morning I was photographing it, it had really attracted quite a crowd of admirers. Welcome back anytime.
Many will instantly recognise this pair of rabbits as the work of NEVERGIVEUP. I’m not quite sure why I always put his name in full caps, I think it might be because he uses them on his Instagram account. He tends to sign his work NGU Familia or in this case #GGUFam. I tend to get locked into conventions, so it is difficult for me to change what I have been calling him from the start.
I recently found out a little bit more about the artist, and he told me he works as a restaurant manager in the Harbourside – the flexible hours probably suit his insatiable appetite for street art. He hopes to ‘go pro’ on the art side of things, and I think with his determination he’ll make it.
These crazy goofy rabbits are brilliant as always, and seem to be getting better and better.
This is the second piece I have posted by Daz Cat and interestingly this time it is a dog. I’m not sure what the slogan ‘Without a pack the dog days are back’ is all about, but it has a nice ring to it.
My initial reaction to this piece is that it looks a bit rough and ready, but actually I think that might just be an artifact of the style Daz Cat uses. If you look closely, the shading and shapes used in crafting the dog’s head are sophisticated and cleverly done, giving an appearance in places almost of a stencil (for example around the nose). I like his work, and I am pleased to see a proliferation of it at the moment. It is always nice to see new work about the place. This piece was created for the Spring paint jam.
Well here is a piece by an artist I haven’t seen in an absolute age. It is a stencil of a street character by Hoax. I’m not sure if he hasn’t been doing much street art for a while or if I just haven’t been where he usually sprays. Whatever, it is really great to see a new piece by him.
Unfortunately, the piece is quite high on the entrance to the tunnel in St Werburghs (which must have been a challenge to work on) and the light is reflecting off the brickwork, making it a bit difficult to appreciate the detail of the stencil, such as the check pattern on the shirt. This is a nice piece from Hoax…looking forward to seeing more.
Ugar is becoming something of a regular down at Dean Lane skate park, and his writing really stands out due to his unusual and irregular letters but particularly because of the fill style he uses.
I am building up quite a good photographic collection of his work and I am enjoying watching his development as an artist. This is small but perfectly formed, a nice piece.
It is always great to find another Epok piece, especially when not expecting it. I don’t often get to St Werburghs tunnel, so when I do pretty much everything is new to me. I hadn’t seen this piece on social media, and although it is a fresh piece, I obviously didn’t get here in time to see it clean.
One day I would live to get into the mind of taggers and bombers to understand their thinking. Are there any protocols? Is everything a fair target for their graffiti? What do they respect/disrespect? Do they care about anything? My guess is that they have little conscience and genuinely don’t care what they do. Wreckless anarchy, which is probably quite an attractive option for some people. The class and quality of Epok’s work shines through though – this is a really good piece by him. Hats off.
In some parts of British society there has been considerable discomfort and anger directed towards the Government for joining the USA and France in bombing Syria without consutling with Parliament first. Mistakes have been made in the past, particularly over WMD which has suggested a more considered aproach might be necessary. As a result of the bombing, protests have become prominent in all walks of life. This is a graffiti art protest.
Of course the two pieces (I admire his ability to recreate the same image freehand almost exactly) are by Decay, who has been making a deliberate effort to diversify his customary abstract radiating pieces, and this is a good example of something different.
This little character, tinged with rage, conveys the message clearly and inoffensively. These were both sprayed for the Spring paint jam in The Bearpit.
Ooh, what a lovely collaboration between Dibz and Sikoh from a couple of weeks back on 20 April 2018. This collaboration has a wonderful nighttime quality about it, set on a dark blue ‘sky’ background.
I have posted several pieces by Dibz on this site in the past and commensurate with those, this one is clean and sharp and offers lovely complex lettering. It was great to be there when he started the piece to see how he goes about his work.
As wildstyle burners go, you would have to hunt high and low to find more tidy works, he really is meticulous in his execution. What I like about this is that the deep borders have a vanishing point somewhere below the piece, which is technically more difficult than having a shadow going in the same direction.
Now Sikoh I have heard of before, but I haven’t knowingly seen any of his work before. Judging from this awesome piece and equally awesome Instagram feed he is an artist of the highest callibre. This piece is called ‘Plague Doctor’ and probably presses every possible button I have. A perfect piece in pretty much every way.
He doesn’t give away too much on his social media profiles, but I tracked down his profile from the 2017 Upfest programme, although in my pictures I haven’t yet found his piece…time to search harder (just done some homework…I don’t have it, he sprayed his piece at the Hare pub). His profile is as follows:
‘Sikoh is a graffiti writer from Glastonbury with a preference for sharp, flowing 3D letters and semi- Bboy characters. One part of IGK- an international crew, local Bristol crew- PWA and one quarter of Glastonbury’s MOA. Sikoh has been painting since 2013. Much of his commissioned works have been within the UK hiphop scene, for artists such as- Leaf Dog, Smellington Piff and Jack Jetson.’
I think this has become a favourite spot for Bristol street artist Rezwonk who last December painted two pieces in Moon street, one of them in this exact location.
His work, based on what I have seen of it so far, seems to focus on letters, often spelling our Rezwonk in some way. This one is, I think, the best I have seen so far, the initial ‘R’ is beautifully picked out in the middle sitting on a perfect circle of pink. His name repeated all around the outside. The drips are lovely and there is something a bit different here. Nice piece. Sadly I don’t think this one lasted even a week before it got bombed. He has however already replaced it (post to follow soon).
Natural adventures 