In the night
when all is pitch black
they will come
baring teeth
stealing the dreams from children
and wreaking havoc
by Scooj
1219. Stucley Place, London (3)
Immediately adjacent to Gnasher’s chimpanzee in Stucley Place there is a door with a couple of wheatpastes on it. The higher of the two is by Face the Strange and features four brightly coloured suited gentlemen with half fruits or vegetables for faces. I am guessing that this has been around for a while. The piece is actually made up of four individual strips.
The lower pasteup is by Codefc featuring one of his characters with a camera head. Both pieces have similar themes and yet the individual style of the artists shines through.
I posted a piece by Codefc from Upfest 2016, but it seems that more recently he has favoured freestyle spraying, judging by his Instagram feed. I enjoy seeing artists moving through different techniques and expressing their work in different ways. This is a nice door.
1218. Stucley Place, London (2)
I was lucky enough to pass by this wonderful abstract piece while it was being sprayed by Mr Jiver, a London artist who told me he had his roots in wildstyle writing and that there are echoes of that in his current abstract works.
The intention for this piece was that it was meant to be a collaboration, but there was a ‘no show’ from the other artist which accounts for the gaps that have been left.
I would guess that artwork like this is at risk of being criticised in the same way that art by Jackson Pollock has been criticised…that old chestnut ‘I could probably do that with my eyes shut’ kind of thing. The retort might be ‘well go ahead then’. Mr Jiver has created a thought out piece with deliberate colour selections, shapes and shading and I celebrate it.
I enjoy meeting artists when they are at work and trying to understand a little bit more about what motivates them. Insight certainly helps with interpretation. Mr Jiver – nice bloke, great work.
Thursday doors
Door 13
The door of this shop on North Street in Bristol has outlived its former occupants. It will be interesting to see if the new owners will keep the door as it is or decide to lose it. It is an acquired taste, but very much in keeping with the area.
I believe that Norm 2.0, who curates Thursday Doors has taken a two week break over Christmas, but I have decided to soldier on regardless – I enjoy posting doors.
by Scooj
1217. Stucley Place, London (1)
Not too far away from Camden Town tube station and in the direction of Camden Lock Market is an absolute jewel of a street – Stucley Place. There are a few walls here that have some lovely work, and this is the first of three posts from my visit to Camden Town in November.
Gnasher (David Nash) is an extraordinary artist who seems to be able to produce amazing photorealistic pieces with consummate ease. Last July I posted a work he produced in Leake Street tunnel featuring Guardians of the Galaxy characters. In this piece he has produced a stunning portrait of a chimpanzee that conveys a sadness and wisdom that seems to be nature’s lot in today’s world.
It is a difficult piece to photograph because of the glare, but even with these slightly dodgy pictures it is possible to see what a truly classy piece this is. So definitely worth a visit if you find yourself in the area.
1216. Wilder Street (20)
You’d have to go back to July 2017 to see this, although it remained for a few months. The fine Deamze piece was sprayed on the Where the Wall curated wall in Wilder Street and was one of three pieces sprayed at that time, the others being by Aintzane Crucet and Hide2
.
Deamze is the local artist of the three and probably played host to the other two, making arrangements for them to spray this wall. His is a technically fabulous piece, and the colour selections were made to blend in with the other two artists. I love the way that artists cooperate and collaborate like this, it certainly seems to bring out the best in them.
File under WPB
Waste paper basket
in the corner of the room
keeper of secrets.
by Scooj
1215. The Bearpit (112)
A quick one from NEVERGIVEUP in The Bearpit from a little while back. This is one of his urban rabbits, before he moved on to monsters. Clean and simple and pleasing on the eye.
Although NEVERGIVEUP was incredibly busy on the streets during the year, he appears to have slowed down a little – maybe he has a new job or some other distraction, or maybe he has simply filled all those spaces that needed filling.
1214. M32 roundabout J3 (59)
This is the right hand end piece to the ASK paint jam collaboration from November and is by Sepr. I have always been a huge admirer of his work and I am so pleased that he has been hitting the streets hard in recent months. His character style is so unique, and for me it has a really strong 1950s and 1960s feel to it – if you type ‘1950s cartoon characters’ into Google images, you’ll get a sense of what I mean.
This particular piece is all a bit strange and there is lots going on. Where to begin? At the top there is a bird playing a flute I think and its left wing makes a crown, although I think that is accidental. Common with many of Sepr’s pieces, the character is playing a musical instrument, a tambourine, and in his other hand he appears to be burning joss sticks, the smoke trail of which terminates with a snake’s head. He is sitting astride a dolphin. What on earth can it all mean?
Whatever it means, it is a fascinating and joyful piece to look at, and rounds off what is a truly exceptional wall. I think I only have one piece left to post from this ASK paint jam, and that is by 3Dom. All very good.
Pavement flowers
I didn’t know you
though I feel the pain of death;
murder on the streets.
by Scooj
Natural adventures 