Category: 5. Street Art

1422. Stokes Croft, No111 (2)

Shutter pieces are always difficult to photograph, and I understand they are a devil to paint too. There is always quite a lot of glare from the curves on each panel of the shutter, and they are usually best seen with the naked eye which somehow accommodated for the glare and gives you a better image.

Kin Dose, Stokes Croft, Bristol, March 2018
Kin Dose, Stokes Croft, Bristol, March 2018

The chimp here is a beautiful creation by the versatile Kin Dose. He had a piece on this exact same shutter before, but it had recently been vandalised. I am a big fan of his work, and he produces it infrequently enough to always make you want more.

Kin Dose, Stokes Croft, Bristol, September 2016
Kin Dose, Stokes Croft, Bristol, September 2016

1421. M32 roundabout J3 (73)

You can see that I am having yet another trawl through my archives, bringing out some real gems that have been left behind. Part of the reason is that due to the Easter break and a bereavement, I haven’t been around to take many pictures and so don’t have too much contemporary Bristol street art to show you.

Jaksta, M32, Bristol, March 2016
Jaksta, M32, Bristol, March 2016

This is a wonderful piece by Jaksta, a member of the Read and Weep (RAW) crew (and several other crews too). I seem to remember this piece, at one of the tunnel entrances to the M32 roundabout was there for quite a while.

Jaksta, M32, Bristol, March 2016
Jaksta, M32, Bristol, March 2016

At the time I took the picture, I didn’t know who the artist was which is probably why it ended up in my archive in the first place. I think that this is a really masterful piece, splitting the character into two colours is a fairly radical treatment, but somehow when you look at the piece, you barely notice the colour seprartion and see the character as a whole. Beautifully sprayed…big respect to Jaksta.

1420. Old Bread Street (12)

This is one from the archive that I can release, because I recently posted my first work from Amoe which he sprayed at the M32 roundabout. The reason it took me so long to identify thisartist is that he is only an occasional visitor from Cardiff, and my knowledge of artists is pretty much confined to Bristol.

Amoe, Old Bread Street, Bristol, March 2016
Amoe, Old Bread Street, Bristol, March 2016

There is something very forgiving about his writing style, the curves create a softness that is very easy on the eye. Some writing can be much more challenging than this. It feels good to liberate this picture after a little over two years. The wall however has not fared so well and there is now only a small stretch of hoarding left at this spot.

Amoe, M32, Bristol, March 2018
Amoe, M32, Bristol, March 2018

1419. Shoreditch, London (5)

The first time I saw work by Unify was when my wife had spotted a piece in Cotham, Bristol next to a Nick Walker ‘Vandal’ piece on the wall of the Highbury Vaults. At that time I had no idea the artist was based in London. How much I wish he would return to Bristol and leave us some of his spectacular stencil pieces.

Unify, Shoreditch, London, February 2018
Unify, Shoreditch, London, February 2018

His pieces tend to be quite small, and often in a portrait orientation…maybe it is the way he likes to cut his stencils. I love this teddy with a balloon composed of ‘unify’ tags, something a little sad and also happy occurring. Another thing about tjhis artist is his eye for selectingh great walls. This one is pretty much perfect.

1418. Shoreditch, London (4)

On a trip to Shoreditch a little while back I came across this unusual and very attractive piece by Raphael Gindt, a young artist from Luxembourg. This is the first time I have seen any of his work and I know precious little about him.

Raphael Gindt, Shoreditch, London, February 2018
Raphael Gindt, Shoreditch, London, February 2018

I took a look on Instagram, and found his feed where he actually has a video of him painting this piece. What is interesting is that he uses palette knives which he loads up with spray paint and then smears onto the wall, a technique I’ve not seen before.

Raphael Gindt, Shoreditch, London, February 2018
Raphael Gindt, Shoreditch, London, February 2018

On his website, Raphael Gindt describes himself as an urban artist, street artist, muralist, surrealist, painter. A quick look at his street work demonstrated the obvious talent he has and the range of his artwork. This particular piece has a soulful quality and is eye-grabbing. I’d like to see more of his work but I’m not sure if Bristol is on his radar.

1417. The Bearpit (129)

I recently found out, from reading an interview with John D’oh, that he tends to create these single layer political stencils for places like The Bearpit, where their lifespan may at times be only a day or two. His more complex multi-layered work is reserved for walls where longevity is more likely…an utterly understandable position.

John D'oh, The Bearpit, Bristol, February 2018
John D’oh, The Bearpit, Bristol, February 2018

This piece is highly critical of Theresa May and the growing problem of homelessness and rough sleeping that is plaguing towns and cities across the UK. I really like the work he does and the way he uses his art to express political ideas. Much of his artwork tends to encourage ‘embellishment’ from passers by, and this one is no exception. The ‘cock and balls’ motif being put to good use.

Keep it going John D’oh.

1416. St Michael’s Hill (3)

Occasionally I vary my walk to work, and instead of sweeping through Stokes Croft and The Bearpit, where I am guaranteed to find some lovely new stuff, I take the hilly route and drop down St Michael’s Hill. This is not an area known for its street art, so finding this large wall by Cheba is a real find.

Cheba, St Michael's Hill, Bristol, December 2017
Cheba, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, December 2017

What a lovely way to decorate a ‘dead’ wall like this one with one of his cosmos pieces. He really has nailed this technique and is quite the best at it that I have seen. I managed to get a shot of it before completion, and it was some time before I visited it again.

Cheba, St Michael's Hill, Bristol, February 2018
Cheba, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, February 2018

I always like to see his work, it is something fresh and different.

1415. Stokes Croft, the Carriageworks (36)

I love this piece which has remained intact and unspoiled for such a very long time in Stokes Croft. It is beautifully well proportioned and the shading is first class – it is a crisp and fresh piece of writing that stands out from the mess around it. The artist is Sofly

Sofly, Stokes Croft, Bristol, December 2017
Sofly, Stokes Croft, Bristol, December 2017

On trying to find out a bit more about Sofly, I managed to find her website. It turns out Sophy Robson is a nail artist from London who appears to be at the top of her game, and as a sideline she runs graffiti workshops. How brilliant is that? I know she has visited Bristol on a few occasions, and I have another of her pieces from Dean Lane somewhere in my archives. I love this a lot.

1414. Ashley Road (18)

I like collaborations, I think they shed the street art community in a good and friendly light. This particular one is between Mr Draws, the writing, and NEVERGIVEUP whose bunny is unmistakable.

NEVERGIVEUP and Mr Draws, Ashley Road, Bristol, January 2018
NEVERGIVEUP and Mr Draws, Ashley Road, Bristol, January 2018

After his phase of spraying monsters everywhere it seems that NEVREGIVEUP has resumed with his rather friendly rabbits, there are a lot of them about, which is fitting I suppose.

NEVERGIVEUP and Mr Draws, Ashley Road, Bristol, January 2018
NEVERGIVEUP and Mr Draws, Ashley Road, Bristol, January 2018

The Mr Draws writing is playing with an idea he has used before, which is to spell out ‘draw’ in German (Zieht) and replacing the Z with a 3. I think however, that this word draw means to pull like drawing water from a well, but don’t quote me on it…I know no German at all. A fun collaboration.

1413. The Bearpit (128)

I wasn’t too sure whether to feature this work from Unlucky 15th or not, mainly because up until now I have not been clear in my own mind whether this is a tag or graffiti art. Then I thought, does it really matter? This motif has been appearing around Bristol for a while now, and it is only recently that I found out whom it is by. It is highly distinctive and the artist keeps it consistent.

Unlucky15th, The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2018
Unlucky15th, The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2018

I think what I would really like to see is some other ideas, to establish whether Unlucky 15th is a ‘one-trick-pony’ or a budding Bristol artist. There is a part of me that really likes this piece, and the overall message is a good one…I think there is another level to achieve though.