All too often there are some really nice pieces that are easily overlooked. In skate parks this happens frequently because any ramp street art tends to get scuffed, damaged and tagged really quickly. Fortunately I managed to find this lovely writing from Nightwayss before it got too bashed about.
Nightways, M32 Spot, Bristol, Setember 2020
Sadly there are no monkeys, but the writing is very nice and the style and colour selections very typical of the artist. I have seen Nightwayss use this grey colour an awful lot in his work which in itself is not unusual for graffiti writers, but he uses it more artistically than is the case for most throw ups that you see about the place. My guess is that this is one of those pieces that goes largely overlooked… not by me though.
A beguiling and very clever collaboration brings together the complementary skills of Paul Monsters and Soker in a piece that has a little secret that isn’t at first inspection very obvious. It is a secret I’ll let you in to. The writing by Soker spells the word TRUE, but upside down it spells FALSE. Very clever stuff and very much in the domain of Graffiti writers who love this kind of letter-play.
Paul Monsters and Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol September 2020
Of course the writing is top notch, but that is what we expect from Soker. The background design is unmistakably the work of Paul Monsters whose distinctive geometric designs and colour selections adorn walls all over Brisol. Note to self – time for a Paul Monsters gallery?. This is an outstanding collaboration from two great artists and fine fellows.
I simply haven’t posted enough of Stiv’s work, but I guess the same could be said for a majority of Bristol artists. With publishing only two posts each day on Natural Adventures I am never going to be able to cover everything. At the end of each month I would guess that I only post about a third to a half of the pieces I record. Something for me to do in retirement perhaps?
Stivs, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2020
I think that thhis tribute piece must be in some way connected to the tribute collaboration with Frank Riot at the other end of the tunnel, because both are dedicated to a friend who died two years ago and was connected to the music industry. The letters are utterly awesome and the movement and vibe dancing off the piece give off a sense of sound and dance. A fine piece with meaning.
An artist that I feel I don’t see nearly enough of is Logoe. I first encountered his work in April 2017 while he was collaborating with Silent Hobo, and it was on that occasion that I was told that Logoe was returning to painting on the streets after a long lay-off, and that he had been a bit of a legend in the past – Silent Hobo’s words.
Logoe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2020
This piece is typical of his thin hand-written style letters. The letters are beautifully picked out spelling Logoe, but it is the additional decorations that bring the writing to life. The dots through the middle and horizontal thin lines that at first I thought were drips add real interest. It is always really good to stumble across one of these.
Varo has really hit on something that totally chimes with me – painting the same basic mega-tag of a bull in a variety of forms in different places. A simple idea that lends itself to the conditions of the spot chosen to paint and the amount of time available. To take this approach one step higher would be to paint them in the style of different artists, for example David Hockney, Matisse or Dali. That could be a lot of fun.
Varo, Leonard Lane, Bristol, September 2020
This particular bull, tucked away in a doorway in Leonard Lane is the full beast, including a tail rather than just the head, which we are more used to seeing. This is quite a raw piece, but is of interest because one knows that the artist is capable of doing much tighter work when the environment permits. A decent throw up.
It is becoming more and more difficult to seek out new doors. The combined forces of coronavirus, the worsening weather and shortening days makes doorscursions particularly difficult at the moment, so I head straight for my comfort blanket and present you with some more archived doors this week, these ones mostly from last year.
Enjoy.
DNT, Grosvenor Road, Bristol, July 2019
Cheo, Elton Road, Bristol, July 2019
Dale Grimshaw, North Street, Bristol, July 2019
Nevergiveup, North Street Green, Bristol, July 2019
Andy Council, North Street, Bristol, June 2019
DNT, Moon Street, Bristol, March 2019
3Dom, Wilder Street, Bristol, July 2019
And that’s it I’m afraid this week, I am having to ration these out a bit because before you know it I will have run out of archive material and will be resorting to photographs of my kitchen cabinets and cupboard doors.
Have a great weekend.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors and you really ought to take a look at the Norm 2.0 blog – the originator of Thursday Doors where there are links to yet more doors in the comments section at the end.
Natural adventures 