What a lovely piece this is from the great Fiva in the depths of St Werburghs tunnel. It is a clever piece that lifts itself out from the wall with superb shadowing in black and dark green.
Fiva, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, June 2018
I’m not sure whether it is the silhouettes or the font , the colours or the expert shading, but I really admire this piece, which is a bit strange, because it is not necessarily my natural leaning. One of the pleasures of hunting out street art is coming across something that makes you feel really good. This is one of those. Thank you Fiva.
One of the nice things about ‘coming out’ about discovering a new artist is that you can trawl through all your old images and start to post some of their older work, and so it is with Daz Cat whose pieces I have only been posting for the last two or three months.
Daz Cat, The Bearpit, Bristol, November 2017
This great cat face in one of The Bearpit tunnels is from November last year and is a really good example of the work of this artist. I always feel that his work is quite simple, but take a closer look and there is a lot of detail and finessing in there. This is a great example of themed work and a distinctive style.
I took this picture a while back, and it was rather overlooked because of my excitement at finding a fine piece by SPZero76 (adjacent) and a wonderful Sepr scene (adjacent but one). Because I didn’t know the artist who created this excellent work, the photographs languished in my archives. Now to my delight I have pulled them into the full glare of the WordPress community.
David Shillinglaw, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2017
When I decided to write about this piece, I still didn’t know the artist, and had to do a little research to find out that it is by David Shillinglaw. Shillinglaw is not a local artist and although I am not familiar with his work in Bristol, I think I might have seen work by him in London (another trawl through my files to come). I love his style, which is beautifully described on his (as yet incomplete) website. So what about Melon Twister? this is beautiful, colourful and surreal piece, full of symbolism (keys, locks…what’s going on there?). Check out the cigarette and smiley smoke. There is a lot to look at here and to ponder on. I am really eager to see more from this distinctive artist.
You may notice that I have once again been rummaging around in my archives, and have found this rather nice installation piece by Will Coles dating back to September last year. There was another of these LOL skulls in The Bearpit, ahich appeared at round about the same time.
Will Coles, Jamaica Street, Bristol, September 2017
This one, like many of his pieces’ is quite easy to miss despite its location directly opposite the People’s Republic of Stokes Croft outdoor gallery. I like the quirky nature of Will Coles’ pieces and particularly like the skill he has for choosing his locations. I wonder how many of his pieces I might have missed in Bristol.
There is still so much I don’t know about street art in Bristol. This is a photograph I took quite a long time ago, but I never really tracked down who painted it. It has been sitting in my archive, but I am none the wiser about its origins. I thought I’d publish it in any case under the ‘unknown’ artist category.
Unknown Artist, Nelson Street, Bristol, August 2017
It was sprayed around the time of the absurd Donald Trump wall-building cant, and along with so much other street art, lampoons the unhinged president. I actually really like this political commentary piece and only wish I knew who the artist is. Any ideas on a postcard…
There is not too much to say about this lovely little toucan by Touc, other than I think it was the first one of his little birds that I found, and I have just retrieved it from my archive.
Touc, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2018
I’ve not seen any new ones recently, but am always on the look out.
Once you get your eye in for a particular artist, it seems that you see their work absolutely everywhere, and so it is with Pekoe. Her work was, until recently, off my radar until I saw a piece at the M32 roundabout. Since then I have found three more pieces dotted about the place, including this one and an Upfest piece.
Pekoe, Stokes Croft, Bristol, January 2018
This interesting work was painted as part of a collaboration which included Mr Sleven and one other. Pekoe appears to be fond of the third eye and its symbolism, as it appears in other work. I am still learning about her work and style, and really look forward to discovering more.
In Dean Lane, there is a fence which separates off the skate park from the council swimming pool. The wall here is a bit of a free-for-all and there really are no rules, apart from the fact that it is less legitimate than the main walls of the spot. To access the wall you first of all need to scale the fence…not for the feint-hearted.
Oner, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2018
I have not seen any Oner work in Dean Lane before, and this might be one of his first adventures to the site. I like the cartoonish style of this burner and the colours are uplifting. It is neat and tidy and has clean lines. I do like it when he spends a little bit of time on his work – sometimes his burners can be a little rough-and-ready.
A week or two back it seems Elvs hit the town with at least three pieces of which this was the second. This one was on the long wall at Dean Lane. The subtle and toned-down writing is in marked contrast with the scarlet backwash which brings the whole piece to life. I’m not sure the impact would be the same on a dull background.
Elvs, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2018
Elvs offers another reworking of a successful style and two things stand out for me. First is the vertical graded shading of the piece which is graduated from bottom to top, and second is the central vanishing point which is central to the work of Elvs. A fine piece.
I know nothing about Hank. I haven’t seen his stuff before, or at least registered it. This slightly curious piece is in Leonard Lane and I am not too sure if the top and bottom half even belong together. The signature at the top would suggest that they do.
Hank, Leonard Lane, Bristol, June 2018
I’ll be on the look out to see if there is any more from this elusive artist.
