February days
fill body and mind with a
dark grey foreboding.
by Scooj
621. Upfest 2016 (91)
A vibrant and attractive addition to North Street is this magnificent piece is by the Toronto-based Canadian muralist Bird0 (Jerry Rugg). This kind of mural is just one of the many brilliant things about Upfest and how the artworks created breathe new life into urban areas.
This is the first work I have consciously registered by Bird0 and it has grown on me since I first saw it. I didn’t really ‘get it’ at first, but having researched his work a little since last July, I am definitely fast becoming a fan, and would love to see more of his work.
The scaffolding was up for the entirety of the festival, and so most visitors to Upfest wouldn’t have seen the final ‘reveal’ when the scaffolding came down, which is a pity.
The surreal nature of his art and the geometric approach he adopts both appeal to me and it was interesting to see the piece develop. There is a nice short bio of Bird0 on Streetartbio.com.
620. Stokes Croft, the Carriageworks (22)
A recent piece by Tom Miller in one of his favourite locations, the arches at the Carriageworks in Stokes Croft. This is a much calmer piece that we are used to from this artist whose surreal style challenges and provokes us. Not so much of the frenetic stuff flying about the place, but we do see a merging of body parts, in this case a hand and the head.
It is no secret that I am an admirer of Miller’s work, and have been from the first piece I saw at the same location back in December 2015. This piece plays on ideas, dreams and imaginings…light shining down from an umbrella. All very odd, but interesting to look at. The figure is set against a black background which gives the whole piece a clean appearance.
I am very glad that I photographed it when I did, even with the van parked right up against it (illegally I might add) because a day or two later it had been tagged and defaced. Pity.
Explaining it to a child
.
We live in dark times
Where self-interest Trumps all
And hope is suppressed.
.
by Scooj.
Refugees
Abused, abandoned,
unloved, forgotten, unseen;
inconvenient.
by Scooj
619. Leonard Lane (9)
I have been hanging on to these pictures for a long time now. They are a set of works that were drawn and pasted up by Jonesy for the Human Nature project in Leonard Lane in July 2015. These are harrowing drawings that highlight some of the perils threatening our environment and wildlife. There is a tortured feeling to these pictures.
Jonesy is probably better known for his sculptures, and I thoroughly recommend taking a look at some of his work on this Inspiring City website.
Each of these images is nightmarish and foreboding. Knowing what we know now about Trump and his intentions these warnings have even more potency about them.
Leonard Lane has become a bit tatty since the Human Nature project and it could really do with a Human Nature II project – nature fights back. Keeping my fingers crossed.
618. M32 cycle path (4)
Ok, I’ll admit it, I am having a bit of a thing about Laic217’s work at the moment, and it won’t stop here. We see him once again experimenting with a figure distorted behind broken glass. There is a story here, the heart shape in the hole in the glass betrays that much. Laic’s faces and figures inhabit that territory between realism and cartoon, very much the province of street artists, where walls and boards provide the canvass.
This is a haunting piece, and lacks the humour and lightheartedness of many of his pieces, but it is intriguing and different and sets itself apart. Not to everyone’s taste I am sure, but I so much enjoy finding his works.
No prizes for spotting the rather nice 3Dom eye character adjacent to this piece.
Horizon
Cranes and chimney stacks
jagged skyline silhouette
with Winter-thin trees.
by Scooj
617. Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare (6)
My trip to Weston-super-Mare last summer was a bit of a treat for me. I managed to grab 20 minutes away from the family who wanted to sit on the beach and eat ice creams, and decided to take a little peek in the Tropicana. The small anteroom, it turns out, is something of a museum honouring JPS and PZY. I’m not so sure how this came about, but there is a lot of their work there.
This is one of the smaller stencils, highlighting the lateral thinking that JPS often applies to his smaller pieces. A small hole in the wall becomes an object for lifting by two fork lift trucks. It is a witty and fun piece, which offsets some of his darker themes. More to come from this treasure trove.
616. Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare (5)
Weston-super-Mare is the home of the great stencil artist JPS, and the Tropicana is home to many of his pieces. This one is in the lobby area between the street and the open area inside the Tropicana, where Dismaland was hosted.
This fine piece is of Peter Weller’s Robocop holding a spray can, I mean, why wouldn’t he? The detail in the stencil is incredible, and all the more remarkable when you take a close look at the texture of the wall.
There were some tourists standing in front of the piece when I was trying to take these pictures, and only reluctantly would they sidle out of the way. their bags however remained. Another classic from the main man.
Natural adventures 