Category: 5. Street Art

908. Jamaica Street (9)

Another piece from the crazy few days organised by Inkie for the Boogie Down Bristol event in Stokes Croft. This piece on the PRSC outdoor gallery is actually by Boogie – a German street artist and designer who now lives in Switzerland. I am not sure, but I think that the event was centred around him.

Boogie, Jamaica Street Bristol, July 2017
Boogie, Jamaica Street Bristol, July 2017

From talking to other graffiti artists, I believe Boogie is held in high esteem and is up there with some of the best in Europe. I am pleased to say that he left a few presents for the people of Bristol during his short trip to the city.

Boogie, Jamaica Street Bristol, July 2017
Boogie, Jamaica Street Bristol, July 2017

This is a really beautiful clean piece with loads of character. Great colours and nice to see the contrast of styles with the pink bubbly ‘oo’ lifted out from the rest of the writing. Some really nice drips too. I love it when visiting artists show us what they can do. It mixes things up a bit.

907. Beaconsfield Road

Anthony Wedgwood Benn, or Tony Benn, will be forever remembered as the Bristol South East Labour MP who ruffled the feathers of the establishment with his hard left wing views. An adopted son of Bristol and much loved MP. This is a lovely tribute to Tony Benn by Stewy.

Stewy, Beaconsfield Road, Bristol, July 2017
Stewy, Beaconsfield Road, Bristol, July 2017

I think I a several years late in posting this fabulous stencil, and it has faded a little over time, but I have only just discovered it, and felt it write to post it as soon as I was able. Stewy has a great track record of creating stencils of important popular figures from Bristol, some of which are recorded previously in the blog. I like his work very much, and this particular piece feels so very right.

906. North Street Savana (2)

It isn’t too long ago that I posted about a piece on this shutter by Telmo Miel, which had been from the time of Upfest 2015. Now, with only days to go until Upfest 2017, I am posting about a piece from 2016. This is the problem with shutters – it is all about timing.

Louis Masai, North Street, Bristol, July 2017
Louis Masai, North Street, Bristol, July 2017

I had no idea that this piece was even here, but happened to pass by just when the shutter was down. What luck! This is a gorgeous sewing bumble bee by the irrepressible Louis Masai. His work with the natural world is a beacon of hope for us all, and I can’t imagine who wouldn’t be touched by his conservation themed work.

Louis Masai, North Street, Bristol, July 2017
Louis Masai, North Street, Bristol, July 2017

‘One love’ he signs it – setting off an earworm which will take a while to shake off. A great find, and fun sharing it.

905. Bedminster

I am troubled by the fact that I have only really been aware of Lokey in the last three or four months, and yet I am now finding his pieces everywhere I look. Even though I am out and about photographing graffiti regularly, I still seem to be capable of missing so much.

Lokey, Bedminster, Bristol, July 2017
Lokey, Bedminster, Bristol, July 2017

Anyhow, his 3d writing is magnificent and I just don’t think I’ll tire of it. In this piece he has worked the writing over a colourful background of complementary colours. His white shading on the letters brings out the 3D effect, bringing out a kind of reflection. Clever work.

Lokey, Bedminster, Bristol, July 2017
Lokey, Bedminster, Bristol, July 2017

 

904. Stokes Croft, Full Moon (1)

How often do you get to watch two of Bristol’s best graffiti artists in action? well in my case not too often, but I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to see Soker and Cheo at work.

Soker and Cheo, Stokes Croft, Bristol, July 2017
Soker and Cheo, Stokes Croft, Bristol, July 2017

I had actually been in the area to see the magnificent exhibition of work from Tom Miller at the It’s all 2 Much gallery on the other side of the road, however the whole area was buzzing with street artists spraying every available wall in the immediate vicinity.

Cheo, Stokes Croft, Bristol, July 2017
Cheo, Stokes Croft, Bristol, July 2017

They were in town for an event organised at the Full Moon pub by Inkie, called Boogie down Bristol. This was an event held within the courtyard of the pub and featured a blend of local and not so local artists.

Cheo, Stokes Croft, Bristol, July 2017
Cheo, Stokes Croft, Bristol, July 2017

I chatted for a while with Cheo, who I had not met before, who is very much contained in a world of his own work and was focussed on this piece. A classic Cheo character…I love the rather unpleasant plaster on his chin – great attention to detail.

Soker, Stokes Croft, Bristol, July 2017
Soker, Stokes Croft, Bristol, July 2017

Soker was busy chatting with chums, but both obviously really friendly, and they do so much great work together. This was only one of several collaborations that were happening on the streets, let alone the curated pieces that were being sprayed in the pub. Fortune favours the brave.

 

903. Jamaica Street (8)

There was a recent event held in Bristol, organised by Inkie, entitled ‘Boogie down Bristol’ held at the Full Moon pub. In the days either side of the event, a whole ton of graffiti art and street art went up in the Stokes Croft area.

Voyder, Jamaica Street, Bristol, July 2017
Voyder, Jamaica Street, Bristol, July 2017

The PRSC outdoor gallery was one of the walls sprayed. The middle section here is another high-quality piece from one of the best writers around Voyder.

Voyder, Jamaica Street, Bristol, July 2017
Voyder, Jamaica Street, Bristol, July 2017

Every piece he produces, and there have been quite a few recently, is a winner. Clean lines, great colour selections and an incredible eye for shading and shadows. Brilliant as always.

902. North Street Green (8)

So here it is, time to get excited about Upfest 2017 with this year’s festival artist Pahnl. There are two of these pieces, one at the North Street Green, and the other at the North Street Standard. Both I expect will be over written at the festival, the latter I believe by Inkie.

Pahnl, North Street Green, Bristol, July 2017
Pahnl, North Street Green, Bristol, July 2017

I don’t really know anything about Pahnl, so it is lucky that the nice people at Upfest have produced a free festival map and a short biography of Pahnl which reads:

‘Living at a lower level of existence, Pahnl’s miniature people, dogs, cats and birds can often be found outside in the street. Taking influence from comics and street signage, whilst adding their own subversive and funny twist, Birmingham-based duo Panhl use stencils, stickers, posters, animation, screen printing, film and photography to bring their own small world to life.’

Pahnl, North Street Standard, Bristol, July 2017
Pahnl, North Street Standard, Bristol, July 2017

So now you know as much as me. Certainly their work has a very strong brand feel to it, and perhaps that is a good thing for the Festival, but it is quite unlike most of the street art you find in Bristol, and maybe not representative. Having said that this is strong and characterful and demonstrates the broad church of street/graffiti art that Upfest espouses. Only a few days now.

Pahnl, North Street Standard, Bristol, July 2017
Pahnl, North Street Standard, Bristol, July 2017

901. Lower Approach Road (6)

Well this really is a magnificent and busy piece by SPZero76. The piece incorporates a train and track, which is entirely fitting to the I. K. Brunel inspired Temple Meads station, adjacent to this hoarding.

SPZero76, Lower Approach Road, Bristol, June 2017
SPZero76, Lower Approach Road, Bristol, June 2017

Somehow, by using limited colours on a black background, SPZero76 has created the effect of an etching, or at least that is how it looks to me. He uses the blue and purple combination a lot in his work – maybe he got a job lot of these colours.

SPZero76, Lower Approach Road, Bristol, June 2017
SPZero76, Lower Approach Road, Bristol, June 2017

So what else have we got going on? He has a dog puking up, I’m not certain why, and just to emphasise the point he writes ‘PUKE’ so that we are sure. There is a biker and the word ‘zoom’. Also SPZero has managed to incorporate the crew Lost Souls on neon lights on the buildings.

SPZero76, Lower Approach Road, Bristol, June 2017
SPZero76, Lower Approach Road, Bristol, June 2017

On the right hand end of the piece there is a lady taking a bath in the last carriage of the train which she appears to be sharing with an octopus and rubber duck. I really have no idea what is going on, but it is a great tribute to the crazy workings of SPZero76’s mind.

SPZero76, Lower Approach Road, Bristol, June 2017
SPZero76, Lower Approach Road, Bristol, June 2017

If you are at Temple Meads station and have a few moments to kill, it is well worth dropping down to the hoardings just to the left of the car park (as you leave the station). There are six wonderful pieces from six of Bristol’s great artists.

900. The Bearpit (79)

This is described by Smak as a ‘quick after school dub down the bearpit’, which was sprayed round about mid June 2017. I believe the piece is still there. Smak belongs to the Read and Weep (RAW) crew which includes Rusk, Ryder and T Rex amongst others. This is the first of his pieces that I have posted  and other than this Bombing Science blog post, I don’t know much about him.

Smak, The Bearpit, Bristol, June 2017
Smak, The Bearpit, Bristol, June 2017

Of course with all things like this, having seen one of his works, I have started seeing them around the place and in my archives. Expect more from Smak on this blog. He is clearly an accomplished writer and has a nice style with his letters. I particularly like the way he has filled the letters here, with an almost cosmic feel. Great stuff.

899. Unity Street (6)

It has been a while since I posted anything by Thelochnessmonster, who in previous posts I had referred to as OHMS, because these were the letters he used in his pieces. Another feature of his pieces is mention of the ‘splab gang’ or ‘splab lads’. I don’t know if this is a crew who spray with him or whether he is simply referring to them.

Thelochnessmonster, Unity Street, Bristol, June 2017
Thelochnessmonster, Unity Street, Bristol, June 2017

Thelochnessmonster’s pieces are often very busy and unlike many of the Bristol (graphic) artists he specialises in wobbly lines and a distinct lack of clean finish.

Thelochnessmonster, Unity Street, Bristol, June 2017
Thelochnessmonster, Unity Street, Bristol, June 2017

In this piece, which looks to be a commentary on weapons and war, there are references to automatic rifles, to yin and yang, to peace and to love. definitely an interesting piece and also interesting selection of colours. Always unusual.