3040. St Werburghs tunnel (174)

Since I started writing about street art some five years ago or so I have seen many established artists, but I have also seen the emergence of a great many artists new to Bristol. Of course some artists have jumped off the conveyor belt or moved out of the city, but I would say that there are more street/graffiti artists in Bristol now than there have been at any time in history.

Pl8o, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2020
Pl8o, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2020

An artist I am starting to notice more around the place is Pl8o (Plato-geddit?). I imagine that Pl8o is new to the city rather than new to street art, because the work I have seen is all really good and not the work of a novice (I should know). There is a lot to like about this piece – the shape of the letters, the fill designs such as bricks, stars and drips and the overall clean and tidy lines. More to come from Pl8o soon.

Evening

.

Biting flies dancing

vertical patterns, up, down

in sunlit stanzas

.

by Scooj

3039. M32 Spot (75)

When I first saw this lovely piece I couldn’t place the artist. I was familiar with the style, but I don’t know, it was bothering me and I couldn’t immediately see the signature because of the skaters’ bags in front of it. A closer inspection revealed it is by Zake, but is quite unlike most of his other pieces that I have seen.

Zake, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2020
Zake, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2020

This is a really classy and thoughtful piece that makes perfect use of the awkward column space. The green-faced girl has beautiful blue hair that turns into a waterfall. Her right hand is holding a spray can that is painting her purple hair that stretches over her head and transforms into a hand that is reaching down to her left hand. Personally I think this is a wonderfully composed piece and concept, beautifully carried out. I love it.

There is a name Diana Abdul at the bottom of the piece, but I don’t know what significance this holds.

3038. M32 roundabout J3 (226)

One thing you know for sure is that when you find a piece by Subtle, you know it is going to be an absolute cracker, and this one is a cracker with a cherry on the top. It was painted during a paint jam a week or so back alongside so many other great Bristol artists, and is the first piece I have seen from him since the start of lock down.

Subtle, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2020
Subtle, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2020

The colours, fill, decorations and 3D shading contrast really well and contribute to this vibrant and feisty work. I’m not sure what ‘outsiders gents club’ refers to, but it is probably a reference to the fellow paint jammers on the day. Like the rest of us, Subtle has been impacted by coronavirus and has mentioned it on his last couple of pieces.

Almost there

.

In a few days time

nature’s generous gift shop

opens for business

.

by Scooj

3037. Cattle Market Road (2)

This is the second outstanding piece from a gathering of great street artists a week or two back orchestrated by The Hass. On Cattle Market Road, a theme has emerged on some of the pieces, involving a cow/cattle, the first one by Sled One that I posted yesterday.

Hazard, Cattle Market Road, Bristol, June 2020
Hazard, Cattle Market Road, Bristol, June 2020

This beauty is of course by Hazard and it really is an absolute stunner. Hazard talked about this a little in her Instagram feed saying that the vibrant red colours were chosen to reflect the sizzling lay hot day on which the piece was painted. The cow is magnificent, but it is the whole composition that screams out Hazard, with the amazing flowers and soft touch she creates with her spraying.

I hope that these hoardings remains intact for a while and that the taggers keep clear, because here we have a great showcase of Bristol talent.

3036. M32 Cycle path (64)

Another artist who has been pretty busy since the end of May is Taboo, and his ‘new school’ work is really rather quirky and organic. The central part of this piece looks like a standard throw up, and then it has a dynamic and beautifully painted character incorporated into the work, almost as it it were by two artists – something Taboo does very well.

Taboo, M32 cycle path, Bristol, June 2020
Taboo, M32 cycle path, Bristol, June 2020

I really don’t like this hoarding at all though. It is at the start of the M32 cycle path, and the large sky above it makes photography, without flaring, almost impossible. Dull days or dusk are probably the best times to come down to this spot.

Taboo, M32 cycle path, Bristol, June 2020
Taboo, M32 cycle path, Bristol, June 2020

Back to the piece ‘landed in the wrong dimension’, Taboo has painted an incredible Mickey Mouse figure with a surreal distortion to the top of his head that circles round into the A of TABOO. There is something edgy and unsettling about the whole thing, challenging the familiar. Great work.

Pot bound

.

Those extra seedlings

in waiting and unplanted

forlorn also rans

.

by Scooj

3035. Brunel Way bridge (41)

Possibly the most difficult piece I have tried to photograph. This is a magnificent column piece by the wonderful Skor85 who organised a small paint jam last weekend under Brunel Way. She had invited various folks along via FB Messenger and so I was able to get along and get some WIP pictures.

Skor85, Brunel Way, Bristol, June 2020
Skor85, Brunel Way, Bristol, June 2020

Before I say anything else, I have to share that Skor85 is without doubt the nicest and most enthusiastic street artist I know and when I arrived she made me feel so welcome and seemed genuinely pleased to see me, which after months of lock down felt really good.

Skor85, Brunel Way, Bristol, June 2020
Skor85, Brunel Way, Bristol, June 2020

Her piece is all about balance, equality and unity which is an understandable theme in these troubling and uncertain times. Two fish sitting on a set of balance scales illustrate this theme and remind me a little of Al Gore’s film ‘Inconvenient Truth’ where he puts the earth and money on either side of a scale and poses the question ‘which is more important’. I digress.

Skor85, Brunel Way, Bristol, June 2020
Skor85, Brunel Way, Bristol, June 2020

Skor85 has a lovely touch to her artwork that almost looks like brush strokes rather than spraycan art. I have always liked her work and can’t wait to see more as the summer unfolds.

3034. Cattle Market Road (1)

This is one of five new pieces on Cattle Market Road on the previously blank hoardings that are on the southern perimeter of the development site behind Templemeads Station that should have been Bristol’s new concert venue. The session from a week ago was co-ordinated by The Hass and the opportunity arose through Out of Hand.

Sled One, Cattle Market Road, Bristol, June 2020
Sled One, Cattle Market Road, Bristol, June 2020

This extraordinary piece is by Sled One and is a welcome return by the artist – I believe this to be his first piece in the city since lock down measures were eased. The outstanding piece tells the story of the site, from a cattle market to the chaotic development site it has become, illustrated by a wrecking ball crashing across the piece on a gold chain. The cow, or more accurately bull, is looking a little crazy and is part of the narrative that recalls that when the place was a cattle holding space a bull escaped and terrorised the locals. As you would expect from the artist, this is an imaginative piece full of movement and wonder. First class (a little reference to the Royal Mail/Parcelforce buildings that were derelict/knocked down to create this development opportunity).