Calling time

.

Overwhelming joy

general election called

so long overdue

.

by Scooj

  • I won’t go on for too long, but I have been waiting for this day for a very long time, and while the future under any new administration will be uncertain, there are truths about the past that are too much to bear. I care most about two things – public services and the biodiversity and climate crisis (that so many wedded to (funded by) the oil and gas industries have done their best to discredit) so I think you can probably guess who I won’t be voting for.
  • As someone who has spent my entire career in public service I have witnessed first-hand the jaw-dropping disregard the Tories have had for their staff in the civil service, health service, local authorities and agencies who have largely taken huge real-terms cuts in salaries over the last 14 years (in my own case about 19% cut). Cuts in staff numbers and budgets have been demoralising and to cap it all an ideology and poisonous narrative that suggests public servants are somehow ‘swinging the lead’.
  • But it is not just public service employees that have suffered, but the whole nation, particularly those who depend on or need the support public services can offer, the only people who are immune from the ferocious public sector cuts are the wealthy, many of whom do their very best to avoid paying taxes and resent paying taxes, so that they can maintain their ever more comfortable lives. I feel all of this is a sickening cliché… you know where I’m coming from.
  • I truly hope for change. I can see a much brighter future, both politically and environmentally. We do not have to succumb to the Hollywood tropes of a dystopian future, instead a green and compassionate future is something all of us can aspire to, a gentle kind world. This is my goal and my passion. It is why I am here.

6033. Lawrence Hill roundabout (18)

Mind 49, Lawrence Hill roundabout, Bristol, April 2024
Mind 49, Lawrence Hill roundabout, Bristol, April 2024

Lawrence Hill roundabout is a spot that is a little off the beaten track, and most of the graffiti down there is average at best, with a lot of bombers and taggers getting in some practice. Decent pieces tend not to last too long in a pristine state, but having said that turnover  is pretty slow. I was therefore privileged on a recent speculative visit to find this beauty from Mind 49.

Mind 49, Lawrence Hill roundabout, Bristol, April 2024
Mind 49, Lawrence Hill roundabout, Bristol, April 2024

It has been wonderful to watch Mind 49’s development from a young artist at Upfest 17 when he was a youthful 16 year old painting under the name Mind Control. This piece follows the theme of concealed portraits that he has been painting in which parts of the face are obscured by hoods or glasses or other things and in this case by the fact that the subject is looking away. This style leaves more to the viewer’s imagination and is quite unusual in the street art world. This is a really wonderful piece tucked away from the more common spots.

Mind Control, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Mind Control, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

6032. St Werburghs tunnel (424)

Fade and Pekoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024
Fade and Pekoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024

Ah! Bravo! Bravo! What a magnificent and, if I am honest, slightly unexpected collaboration from Fade and Pekoe in the tunnel. Although the pair have painted together in the past, it still somehow feels like a surprise when they hook up to paint together.

Fade, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024
Fade, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024

I was going to write that this might not be the tightest of pieces, but the more I look at it the better it gets I’m my view. The sumptuous colour palette of gold and light purple ticks all the boxes and turns a good wall into a great one. Fade has kept the purple flashes to a subtle minimum, with just enough colour to complement the wonderful gold writing. Lifting the letters further is the beautifully clean white accent line along the upper edges of the letters. Brilliant.

Pekoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024
Pekoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024

I wasn’t too sure about Pekoe’s portrait on first glance, but I am sure now that it is absolutely on point. The lady is wearing a gold hoody that frames a beautifully expressive face and flowing hair. The woman’s face looks quizzically amused about something, and seems to be suspended in that moment before breaking into laughter, at least that is what I see, and that is the joy of art, we each take home what we see. I really love this collaboration and look forward to their next project together.

6031. St Werburghs tunnel (423)

Turoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024
Turoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024

Turoe is nowhere near as productive as he has been at certain times in the past, so it is always great to come across a new piece. Although the frequency has dipped, the quality of his writing hasn’t diminished one iota.

Turoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024
Turoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024

This is a lovely chrome piece in the tunnel, which is really brought to life with the steel blue border, without which the writing would disappear on the wall, and struggle to be noticed. Small things like this come so easily to experienced writers, and the thought that goes into design, colours and site location contribute to the final outcome. A fine piece of graffiti writing from one of the best.

6030. M32 roundabout J3 (576)

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2024
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2024

Here we have some more calligraffiti writing from Stivs, who appears to have had a bit of a rebirth lately and is painting furiously all over the place. I use the word ‘furiously’ deliberately because the words he is choosing to write  recently are on the bluer end of the scale and play into the passive-aggressive arena, contrasting the beautiful writing with the potty mouth language.

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2024
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2024

I believe this piece says KLAPE or KLAPY, which I think is just another way of saying CRAP, although I might be mistaken. The writing is, as ever, very neat and tidy, and has a sparkle about it, helped along with the little starbursts at the top of each letter. Much more to come from Stivs, and I am struggling to keep up as it is.

6029. Dean Lane skate park (716)

Peggy, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
Peggy, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024

The little passage alongside the swimming pool wall in Dean Lane is often full of surprises, and I was thrilled to find this lovely floral piece by Peggy, especially as she has been reasonably quiet over the winter.

Peggy, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
Peggy, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024

Peggy, who I guess has been busy with her tattooing, managed to find some time to create this display of leaves and, of course, a flower including an eye in the centre. Lots of symbolism tied up with the eye, but I am not too sure what it might mean. Peggy has chosen a nice palette of colours and finished the piece neatly. Perhaps this is a sign of more activity over the summer – fingers crossed.

6028. Stokes Croft

Kid Krishna, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2024
Kid Krishna, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2024

It took me rather a long while to photograph this magnificent writing/character combination piece by Kid Krishna, but parking near this spot is a real issue, so I waited until I walked in to work (a reasonably rare occurrence since Covid) before snapping it up. Fortunately it has been respected and remained untagged since it was painted.

Kid Krishna, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2024
Kid Krishna, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2024

The Tribute piece almost looks like it has been created by two different artists, and it brings out the artistically ‘bipolar’ aspects of Kid Krishna’s skill sets. The character, which looks like a beetle-mole mash up is detailed, sharp and clean, whereas the writing looks much more fluid and spontaneous. This is a really classy combination piece from an artist who is red-hot at the moment.

Awkward

A gallery of fabulous character faces from Bristol artist Awkward.

Instagram: @awkward_uk

All photographs by Scooj

Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
Fade, Dibz, Noise and and Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024
Fade, Dibz, Noise and and Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024
Fade and Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024
Fade and Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024
Noise and Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024
Noise and Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Dibz, Awkward and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Dibz, Awkward and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2023
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2023
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022
Awkward and Benjimagnetic, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020
Awkward and Benjimagnetic, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020
Awkward and Acer One, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020
Awkward and Acer One, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020
Awkward and Benjimagnetic, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020
Awkward and Benjimagnetic, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020

 

6027. Turbo Island

Sepr and 3Dom, Turbo Island, Bristol, May 2024
Sepr and 3Dom, Turbo Island, Bristol, May 2024

Turbo takes an awful lot of punishment. This little corner of Stokes Croft represents the heart of Bristol rebellion. Occupied at various points by the homeless, addicts, drunks, revellers, artists, tourists, the curious even. It is a spot impacted by footfall, fires and tagging. For many years, a beautiful Sepr scarecrow mural loomed large on the end wall but over time it has degraded, so up steps the hero of the day, Sepr, ably accompanied by 3Dom to refresh the wall.

Sepr and 3Dom, Turbo Island, Bristol, May 2024
Sepr and 3Dom, Turbo Island, Bristol, May 2024

Sepr has stuck quite close to his original piece, sticking with the literal scare crow idea painted in a clever contrasting black and yellow two-tone colour scheme. A troupe of performing mice accompany the crow, who is drinking out of a ‘Bob’ mug.

Sepr and 3Dom, Turbo Island, Bristol, May 2024
Sepr and 3Dom, Turbo Island, Bristol, May 2024

3Dom has done all of us a great service in painting the utility box with one of his magnificent symmetrical radiating, organic pattern pieces. This utility box is usually festooned with hundreds of peeling fly-posters that add to the general untidiness of the spot. I’m sure it won’t be long before we can no longer see this beautiful splash of colour. Beautiful, witty, charming and just what the spot needs.

Sepr, Stokes Croft, Bristol, August 2015
Sepr, Stokes Croft, Bristol, August 2015

 

 

6026. Brunel Way (271)

Dibz, Jody and Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2024
Dibz, Jody and Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2024

This extraordinary collaboration from Dibz, Jody and Fade, in my view, approaches graffiti/character combination perfection, and I feel that the more I say about it, the more I risk devaluing it. This piece, is adjacent to an earlier collaboration by these three which I haven’t yet had the space to post…

Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2024
Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2024

The classic triptych begins with some stunning writing from Dibz with an outstanding deep 3D drop shadow, full of shades creating loads of depth. There are some nice dark highlights in the corner of some of the letters too.

Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2024
Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2024

Bookending the central character on the other side is some writing from Fade which closely mirrors Dibz’ writing. The main difference between the two is the colour of the drop shadow. Their work is deliberately merged into one.

Jody, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2024
Jody, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2024

Arguably, the star of the show is the portrait piece from Jody in the centre. I don’t know what it is that makes this one so special, maybe it is the colours, maybe it is the writing either side, I just don’t know, but it is truly outstanding and captivating. The portrait is full of mystery and power, with the flowing hair and wispy flowers providing plenty of movement. This is really great work from the three. How often have I said that over the last year or two?