There are several street/graffiti artists in Bristol who never seem to stop, and ranking high amongst those is Deamze. This compressed piece is from a few weeks ago and takes the format of his wildstyle lettering and a character.
Deamze, Kings Square Avenue, Bristol, April 2017
I am guessing that the character is some kind of hog or pig – probably from a cartoon series that I never watched on TV.
Deamze, Kings Square Avenue, Bristol, April 2017
The colours in this work, especially the dayglow pink and green set on a purple background create an eye-catching piece for passers by. Deamze has occupied this spot for as long as I have been blogging, and probably sometime longer than that.
As Whysayit pieces go, this really is a first class one. Sprayed on what is probably the premium wall at Deaners, it oozes with confidence and colour. I think what really marks this out from his other work, is that he has taken a bit of time to prepare a backwash, and it definitely helps the writing to stand out.
Whysayit, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2017
I liked this piece from the moment I saw it, and although it didn’t last long (nothing much does here) I’m glad I got to see it.
Something fresh and new in Bristol. As you will know by now, I am a big fan of wheatpastes, so when I saw this I had a small pang of excitement. In fact it turned out to be the first of four I found on my home. It is by qWeRT, a wheatpaster based in London, who must have had a mini-break in Bristol and left a few ‘presents’.
Qwert, St Augustine’s Parade, Bristol, April 2017
This colourful happy piece appeared to have been here a little while as one bit was starting to peel off – I can’t believe I have not seen it before though. Since Kid Crayon moved onto spraying, I have missed my fix of paste ups. Discovering the work of qWeRT has quenched my thirst a little.
Tuesday 2 May was something of a special day. I took a lunchtime walk to Dean Lane, and was lucky enough to come across an artist spraying a large buck-toothed bunny. This was a significant moment, because I have taken several pictures of this bunny about the place, but never posted it because I didn’t know who it was by.
This was my chance – I asked if he minded if I took a picture and I had a chat with him. Turns out he is Hire (pronounced ‘he ray’) and comes from Poland and sometimes paints with Laic217 (who he told me is also Polish). So now the piece I recently posted by the pair of them makes more sense.
Hire, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2017
So here is a toothy bunny from a little while ago from The Bearpit, and guess what…it is by Hire. You would not believe how many google searches I have done for street art bunnies/rabbits/graffiti/buck-teeth/scary and so on. Nothing, not a dicky bird. Anyhow it doesn’t matter anymore.
Hire, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2017
Feast your eyes on this bunny and enjoy. There will be more dredged from the archives soon.
I was in two minds about posting about this Laic217 piece, because it is so unlike anything I have seen from him before, and something of a departure from the trajectory he has been on recently. I am not too sure also that I like it very much…it might be something to do with the insipid colours. But hey this blog isn’t just about what I like, it is about what I see.
Laic217, M32 Roundabout, Bristol, April 2017
Actually, now that I am scrutinising it a little more thoroughly, there is quite a lot here to like. The animal, the alien in a spaceship over eyes and the customary brick wall. I guess the monochrome approach is something I’ve not seen before from this artist (spoiler alert…but I have seen since).
Laic217, M32 Roundabout, Bristol, April 2017
Not the best, but still something rather compelling about his work, and how much has he improved over the last year?
Street art and graffiti can often tell a story about the ever-evolving scene. The original piece by Angus, which is one of his favourite stencil concepts was sprayed as part of the paint jam in the Bearpit over Easter.
Angus, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2017
Angus had completed the work by the time I got down there, but it was still in pristine condition. Now, I understand that taggers really have very little time for stencil art, and don’t take long to spoil it, or ‘add’ to it with their own scrawlings and witticisms. By the time I went back the next day there were already quite a few tags on the piece.
Angus with extras from Dice 67, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2017
How brilliant then, that Dice 67 went the extra mile and augmented the piece with a fabulous stencil of his daughter spraying the words ‘I must not write on the walls’. How brilliant is that – a living piece that takes a pop at taggers, but in a really clever way, and sets the piece off beautifully. Evolution.
Angus with extras from Dice 67, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2017
Sirens is an artist that I have only recently come across, and I have to say that on both occasions I have met him, I really enjoyed our conversations and what he has to say about his art.
Sirens, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2017
His work is on the fine art side of the spectrum, and it is possible to see that there might be numerous influences in his work. This piece, again of an industrial environment is in one of the tunnels of The Bearpit, and offers both a depressing scene, and also an uplifting one in the single work. I like his style, and believe he is still developing, so I await further appearances and opportunities to chat.
There are two artists in Bristol who are performing at the top of their game at the moment, Deamze and Voyder. Deamze consistantly turns out superb wildstyle pieces and absorbs styles and characters into his pieces with ease, but it is Voyder who, in my opinion, is hitting a new level with his work.
Deamze, Waterloo Place, Bristol, April 2017
This bright collaboration can be found on the wall at the back of the Sofa Project in Old Market. It is so, so good that it really does have to be seen in the flesh. There is a consistent thread of the colour scheme and a diagonal line through both pieces that cuts through the writing, and with which both artists have treated the line as a breaking point in the work – so thought out and skilful.
Deamze, Waterloo Place, Bristol, April 2017
I would like to focus a little – which is hard to do with two such immense pieces – on Voyder’s half of the collaboration, because I think this is the best piece I have seen from him, ever. The neon line zig-zagging through the Lichtenstein influenced brush strokes is masterful. Look at the shadows and the light that radiates from the neon. Just amazing.
Voyder, Waterloo Place, Bristol, April 2017
Voyder has mastered his technique, and I don’t quite know where he goes from here. He has just been getting better and better with every piece and I consider him to be the king of writing in Bristol right now. If you don’t agree, just get down and take a close look at this piece. The best collaborative piece of the year so far as far as I am concerned. Love it (just in case you hadn’t figured that yet).
Some real luck with this one. I was returning from dropping my niece off at Temple Meads station and deliberately drove home via a few graffiti spots, and whose work should I see on the hoardings at the top of Ashley Road…Silent Hobo.
Silent Hobo, Ashley Road, Bristol, April 2017
I hadn’t seen or met him before so I wasn’t going to miss this chance and found a place to park and went to introduce myself. He was spraying with another artist who was working on the wildstyle writing in the middle of the piece. This was Logoe, who I was told by Silent Hobo is a celebrated Bristol graffiti artist from years gone by, and has just returned to the city – this is his first back since his homecoming.
Silent Hobo and Logoe, Ashley Road, Bristol, April 2017
Both were absolute gents and didn’t appear to mind me stopping to watch a while and chat a bit. I asked why Silent Hobo had appeared to have a break and was now, over recent weeks, churning out pieces very regularly…well it was all down to childcare…ah the freedom that childcare affords us parents.
Logoe, Ashley Road, Bristol, April 2017
The whole piece works well, I have always liked Silent Hobo’s anime influenced characters, and Logoe’s writing is a real treat.
Silent Hobo and Logoe, Ashley Road, Bristol, April 2017
The piece is in an area that tends to get very badly tagged very quickly – it will be interesting to see how long this lasts. So far it has survived two weeks unscathed – recognition of the status and quality of the work.
Silent Hobo and Logoe, Ashley Road, Bristol, April 2017Silent Hobo and Logoe, Ashley Road, Bristol, April 2017
This piece from our very own Jody (when I say ‘our’, I mean Bristol’s) was something of a promotional stunt for Huff Post. He had been lined up to do a live spray, during which he unveiled the new Huff Post logo – the video has had more than 200k views…not bad really.
Jody and Cheo, North Street, Bristol, April 2017
Not long after the piece was completed and the brouhaha had subsided, the logo was painted out, and then not too long after that, Cheo sprayed a bee on the hand. One in the eye for the corporates.
Jody and Cheo, North Street, Bristol, April 2017
This coming together, albeit a bit haphazardly, leaves us with a really rather wonderful piece. The grayscale hand, so beautifully crafted, is the prefect partner for the vibrant and rather cheeky bee. Glad I got to see the completed thing before I knew about the backstory.
Natural adventures 