Sometimes artists break the mould and when they do, they can surprise us, andn that is exactly what Elvs has sone with this tight piece of writing on the M32 cycle path. Regular readers of Natural Adventures will note that this is far removed from what we might expect from the artist and is so refreshing to see. To give you some idea of what I mean, take a quick look at this gallery and you will understand what I am saying.
Elvs, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2020
The five colour fill is very nicely done and the 3D shading consistent. Quite why he has changed his letters I don’t know, but it is quite commmopn for graffiti writers to do this. A nice little surprise that I wasn’t looking for.
In St George skate park, at the far end from the car park, is a tombstone of a skate ramp, looking more like the monolith in 2001: a Space Odyssey than a piece of skating architecture. This is a favourite spot for some artists in Bristol, and recently it was the turn of 3Dom to decorate this wall.
3Dom, St George skate park, Bristol, May 2020
I think the story here is putting urban civilisation under the microscope, but to what end I am not so sure. The microscope has been brilliantly observed and painted well and reminds me of the days when I used to do some real science rather than whatever it is I do these days.
3Dom, St George skate park, Bristol, May 2020
This is a simple and striking piece that is brilliantly suited to the wall it has been sprayed on and offers us another aspect of this fabulous artist’s talents. I feared that with the sun behind the wall I wouldn’t get any decent pictures, but I think they turned out ok.
Doors 109 – yet more graffiti/street art doors (bear with me…)
Is it really the fourth of June already? Is it really 2020? What happened to the last five decades? Time seems to be accelerating with every moment that passes at a time in my life when I would rather like it to slow down, perhaps even go in reverse.
Very busy at work at the moment so this is what you are getting – doors from 2016/17:
Copyright and Paul Monsters, North Street, Bristol, April 2017Coloquix, Moon Street, Bristol, August 2016Decay and John D’oh, North Street, Bristol, July 2016Fiver, St Andrews Road, Bristol, December 2016Whysayit, Upper York Street, Bristol, January 2016Copyright and Gemma Compton, North Street, Bristol, July 2016Alex Lucas, Picton Street, Bristol, March 2016
I realise that three of these are shutters, but shutters are kind of doors too aren’t they? The last picture is the shop and home belonging to the Artist Alex Lucas, which she decorated herself. Over the last week or two she has been making good use of the current lock down restrictions and re-painted the whole thing. One for my street art posts fairly soon I think.
May I wish you all a very happy week.
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.
Political commentary is never far away when John D’oh is around, and this recent stencil at the Horfield skate park nicely sums up the disgusting hypocisy demonstrated by Boris and Cummings. Just jaw-dropping, mind-blowing, irresponsible, selfish and self-centered behaviour. Although the headlines may have receded, the anger hasn’t. Boris has shown himself to be a deceitful and manipulative Prime Minister, and I find it extraordinary that anyone would still line up to defend him (although the reliable toadies seem to fight over this space). His odious disregard for other people is beyond staggering and the sooner he gets ousted the better.
John D’oh, Horfield skate park, Bristol, May 2020
I suspect that Boris, being Boris would probably look at this stencil and feel rather flattered, I mean it is a picture of him as a Moses figure, how could he not be excited by that. Well done John D’oh once again for reminding us what a terrible person Boris Johnson really is. I will not move on.
I feel just the slightest tinge of normality returning with this epic new piece from Laic217. Usually I would have posted several pieces by Laic217 during the spring, but because of the lock down restrictions he simply hasn’t been out painting, just like most of the other Bristol artists. It felt like a Christmas treat coming across this piece a week or two back.
Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2020
We are treated not to just one or two skeletons, but nine, which must be something of a record for Laic217 in a single piece. I’m not to sre what the story here relates to, whether it is Covid-19 related or something else. I suspect the latter, because the black cross denotes ‘harmful’ and the flame denotes flammable. I suppose this could be described as an incendiary piece… sorry.
Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2020
I can see how a bunch of skeletons skulking around might not be to everyone’s taste, but to me this is a remarkable piece and so utterly stands out from the crowd. The clothes and headwear and consistently well sprayed, difficult to do when using so few grey tones. So it might be quite a dark piece, Laic217 tends to stray on the dark side, but it is technically an assured and confident work.
Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2020
I particularly like the white labels of LAIC, PAD asnd a Nike tick. The shout out to Pad (aka Cort) his painting partner is rather sweet. This is the first of several new ones from Laic217. Watch this space.
I love this fun piece from DFC1848 for a great many reasons. Primarily, we are witnessing the development of an artist from the early stages. DFC1848 is a street art hunter (a term I dislike) like me, who about two years ago turned his hand to spraying walls with his ‘stock’ character piece, following some work on stickers. He has been practicing and repeating his favoured character on a reasonably regular basis since then but the step change has occurred during lock down, where he was painting a new piece in his garden pretty much every day, with some rather spectacular results.
DFC1848, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2020
Now since the lock down restrictions have eased DFC1848 has painted this in Dean Lane, with a confidence of an accomplished artist. It is great to see. I really look forward to seeing some of the characters he practiced in his garden making it onto the streets of Bristol this summer.
As the lock down restrictions have eased, the street/graffiti artists in Bristol have started to get busy, and Dean Lane in particular has been a destination of choice. This colourful collaboration is from Crem, Nevergiveup and Kity.
Crem, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2020
First up is Crem and a confession that I don’t really know this artist at all and this is the first Crem post in Natural Adventures, although not the last I am sure. Crem’s letter shapes are unusual and nicely finished and the piece sets the tone for the whole collaboration with its attractive fills.
Nevergiveup, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2020
No need to introduce the creator of the rabbit in the centre of the piece as he is the most featured artist on Natural Adventures, and even then I have loads of unpublished pieces of his in my archive. I am of course talking about Nevergiveup. This bunny adopts the colour scheme and offers one of the best bunnies I have seen.
Kity, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2020
Finally we move on to Kity, who like Crem I know absolutely nothing about. It would seem that I need to do a little bit of homework here. What I can’t be sure of is whether these two are new on the scene or whether they have just been off my radar. Probably the latter… it happens a lot. Kity continues the colour scheme to give what is in its entirety a really pleasing collaboration.
Natural adventures 