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Winter’s arrival
on message and read the script
mild interrupted
.
by Scooj
5673. Hepburn Road (23)
About a week ago I posted a piece by Biers which was not too dissimilar to this one. Similar colours and of course overall design of WD40, and incorporating a to cartoon character with ginger hair and glasses. The character from last week’s post was Dexter from Dexter’s Laboratory, but I am stumped by this character.
I was lucky enough to bump into Biers while he was painting this alongside Bags, but he hadn’t started the character, so I couldn’t ask him directly who it was. It is good to see that Biers is out and about again with his very ‘Bristol’ style of graffiti writing. I have mentioned this before, and I don’t know if this is a perception or a real thing, but I think that different cities and districts have ‘house’ styles, and Biers typifies the Bristol ‘house’ style.
5672. M32 roundabout J3 (530)
Last week I posted a piece by Hypo that showed something of a development of his style into a more cryptic wildstyle approach. This piece on the other hand is the more familiar graffiti writing we expect to see from Hypo, and what a colour-burst it is too.
The letters are clear to read, and there is a real sense of joy and optimism about the piece. The colours come together as if they were sweets in a jar and the whole thing looks almost edible. I love the design, and the colour fades and decorations, I think though, and I know I am nit-picking, that the black shadow might have been a little tidier. Beautiful work from Hypo.
5671. Leonard Lane (42)
Tell me that this isn’t scary or alarming, and I’ll buy you a beer should we ever meet. I think that Alex Arnell may have paid Bristol a swift visit in October or November this year, because I have come across a few of his highly distinctive scribble pieces recently, and I know that he is not a local artist.
Although the piece is a child-like scribble, it is in fact far more sophisticated than that and the subject is highly unsettling. Lots of colour and layers combine to give us this angry/scary portrait – the stuff of nightmares. I am not sure what materials Alex Arnell uses for his work, but it would be interesting to see if he could scale it up and use spray paint to create the same effect. Interesting and distinctive.
5670. M32 Spot (176)
With his finger pretty much always on the pulse, it was only a matter of time before John D’oh would create a stencil commentary piece about the war in Gaza and here it is. In this column piece, John D’oh presents a touching and tender piece that also references Bristol and Banksy.
The message is clear, and one I think anyone in their right mind would agree with – ‘teach peace’. A young child and teddy look on at the right approach to conflict – the correct example throwing flowers and the incorrect version throwing Molotov cocktails. Along with most of us, this piece is asking for conflict to stop.
5669. M32 Cycle path (238)
This is an unusual piece, which I think was probably a Halloween celebration, by an artist I have not encountered before, Jak MCS. No pun intended, but this is without doubt an eye catching piece, and I would have posted it sooner had I known who the artist was.
I would like to think that the writing says something, but the only thing I can come up with is voodoo, although it looks more like goo goo. Each of the elements of the piece, the eyes, the letters and the background are well done, but for me, there is something not quite right and it might be something as simple as the thinness of the yellow paint. Great to see yet another artist painting in Bristol.
EV
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Unexpected sight
toff in top hat and Tesla
pavement privilege
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by Scooj
5668. M32 Cycle path (237)
From time to time I get to see pieces that I really like and can’t quite explain what it is that sparks my interest. This is one of those pieces. I was mystified originally about the artist, and my first thought was WERM, but I discounted that very quickly on the grounds that the letters weren’t right, and it isn’t quite in his style – it was a plausible guess for about ten seconds. Then I had to do a little digging to establish that it is by Zaenone, an artist I know nothing about.
The colourful fills fade into one another in vertical strips in quite an unusual way and the letters are open, allowing the bleed of fill through the whole piece. A nice, strong white border contrasts with the fills and the black drop shadow. Two weird faces bookend the letters and create some additional interest. This is a fun and well balanced piece from Zaenone.
5667. The Carriageworks (47)
The arches of The Carriageworks have been taken over as a bit of a protest area, calling for peace in Gaza and between Israel and Palestine. Much of the sentiment that is portrayed is pro-Palestinian people. There is nothing celebrating Hamas, and little or nothing that supports the Israeli Government, or those that have consented heir activity. It is probably a fair reflection of public mood in the UK. I think that most people simply want the fighting and bloodshed to stop – that is something people have to believe in, but it is out of our hands. The most people can do is protest in all the various ways that protest can manifest itself, and in Bristol, graffiti art is one such way.
This is a powerful piece and I have included it even though I don’t know who the collaborators were. This is a slight embarrassment for me because I met them and chatted with them while they were painting it. I didn’t quite catch their names, and I don’t know if that was my hearing letting me down, or their desire not to give away too much, I didn’t recognise them. The piece captures perfectly the scenes that we have been witnessing since this conflict began, and although there is a ceasefire right now, the fear is that the Israeli Government will return to flattening the rest of Gaza as soon as the ceasefire is over. Street art plays an important part in chronicling these word events in a vivid and representative way.
5666. Leonard Lane (41)
Leonard Lane is one of my favourite graffiti spots in Bristol, and it is also one of the first I stumbled upon when I became interested in and noticed things around me in the city. I don’t venture down to the old narrow lane too often, so that when I do make the trip there is always loads of ‘new’ stuff for me to enjoy.
I love Creamylines’ work, it is so very different from anything else we get to enjoy in Bristol. His sunshine scenes depict landscapes both urban and rural with little figures dotted about thee place, and each segment is bordered with a black line akin to the leading in a stained-glass window. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Creamylines were a stained-glass window designer. One or two faces are also concealed in this happy and uplifting piece. Charming and gentle, great work from Creamylines.
Natural adventures 