Tag: ASK

2376. St George skate park (3)

I have known about this piece by Sepr for quite a long while, but simply wasn’t sure where it was, because St George skate park has only recently come onto my circuit of regular spots to visit. You can’t be everywhere, and with a full time job and two teenage kids I do miss an awful lot of artwork in spots I don’t know about, so I am pleased at last to have discovered this one.

Sepr, St George, Bristol, July 2019
Sepr, St George, Bristol, July 2019

You can tell this has been around for a while because it is a bit tagged and looking a little worn. One of the problems with skate park art is that anything on skating surfaces becomes degraded very quickly, so you either visit regularly or have to put up with pieces not in the best condition. I’m not certain how ‘appropriate’ this piece is for a park where a lot of very young children play, because it is ghoulishly macabre, but then again perhaps it is perfect. I always have been and always will be a huge fan of Sepr’s work.

2332. Wilder Street (35)

I’m completely bemused by how on earth I can have missed this amazing piece by 3Dom for so long. It is in the mid-section of Wilder Street and I think I have only visited the ends of the street, but nonetheless it is most negligent of me. Paul H tells me it has been there for quite some time.

3Dom, Wilder Street, Bristol, July 2019
3Dom, Wilder Street, Bristol, July 2019

The style of the piece is similar to ones he did at the other end of Wilder Street, in Frogmore Street and in Montpelier, and I think it was a phase he was going through. It is what I would describe as organic abstract piece, so very easy on the eye, with a pleasing symmetry. Love it a lot.

2329. L Dub (2)

It was this piece by Sled One that finally motivated me to get myself the the L Dub spot in Lawrence Weston, although I wouldn’t have made it withoug the guidance of Paul Harrison and DJPerks.

Sled One, L Dub, Bristol, July 2019
Sled One, L Dub, Bristol, July 2019

This piece alone was worth the trek and to me highlights the extraordinary motivations of street/graffiti artists. L Dub is not exactly a place you would paint if you wanted lots of people to see your work, but you can certainly get on with your creation without much risk of interruption.

The piece itself looks like it is a bit of a dig at the police and is a wild and surreal pig, whose face looks like it is made from a leather bag and is sporting a gun holster with a curious looking weapon. I don’t really know too much about what is going on here, but the quality of the artwork is undeniable.

I am guessing that the words ‘No Face – No Case’ refer to the fact that if your face isn’t seen then there is no evidence for a case against you (I’m not too sure how water-tight that is). Great piece from Sled One.

2281. Norfolk Place (5)

Sometimes you’ve just got to go big and bold, and they don’t come much bigger and bolder than this fine piece of writing from Soker. This is a wall that doesn’t seem to change all that often, and is usually occupied by an ASK artist.

Soker, Norfolk Place, Bristol, April 2019
Soker, Norfolk Place, Bristol, April 2019

There is a lot to like about this piece which looks so graceful, clean and simple, but it takes a lot of skill and experience to pull off writing like this. The letter font is easy on the eye, and the green and white highlights help to give a 3D appearance, and the whole thing is set off on a nice background of cool colours and shapes. It is the pink touches that add just a little bit of class. A fine work.

2256. Dean Lane skate park (217)

It somehow always feels special finding an Inkie piece, probably because his work is so well known and sought after, and yet here he is creating something magical in Dean Land skate park.

Inkie, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2019
Inkie, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2019

This beautiful piece features one of Inkie’s trademark profile portraits of a girl with long flowing locks of hair and some block writing INK. When I look at this, I can’t make up my mind which way her body is facing, towards us or away from us, I think the latter.

Inkie, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2019
Inkie, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2019

It is not all that long ago when this wall lost a whole ton of its render and years of paint layers. I thought the wall might be doomed, but somehow looking at it now, you wouldn’t eve know it had happened. Lovely work from Inkie.

2225. Chapter Street (2)

Other than promotional hoardings outside the Full Moon pub in Stokes Croft, I don’t think I have seen an Inkie piece since Upfest last July, so it was great to see this one on a Construction site deep in St Pauls. As one of the godfathers of Bristol street art, it is a pity that we don’t get to see as much of his work as we would probably like to, but I suppose the old maxim ‘treat em mean to keep em keen’ might apply here.

Inkie, Chapter Street, Bristol, May 2019
Inkie, Chapter Street, Bristol, May 2019

This piece is a blaze of colour, spelling out INKIE. Interestingly there isn’t any 3D effect on the lettering, which I would usually asssociate with his writing. I don’t think that this is the best piece I have seen from Inkie, but the bar is so very high, and I imagine that this was probably a ‘quick one’. Always great to find anything by this celebrated artist.

2211. Dean Lane skate park (212)

When you see a piece like this in blue tones with a dash of white and it is so incredibly clean and tight, you can only stand back in wonder and admire the extraordinary talent of Bristol’s Cheo.

Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2019
Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2019

Cheo usually paints character pieces, and I don’t think there is anyone better at creating this cartoon style anywhere in the country. Every line and shadow is immaculate and skilfully laid down. As always he has marked the piece with his signature bee. This was a lovely surprise piece to find in Dean Lane and is another little reminder of the world class street art scene in Bristol.

2198. Wilder Street (30)

It is unusual to see incomplete pieces, that are unlikely to be completed at any time in the future, if fact they are such a rare thing that I can only think of three or four examples in the four years I have been doing this. Rarer still is an incomplete Sled One piece, but here is one on the side wall of the garage in Wilder Street.

Sled One, Wilder Street, Bristol, April 2019
Sled One, Wilder Street, Bristol, April 2019

My understanding is that he got asked to move on, although I am not sure whether that was by the garage owner or somebody else. What it gives you though is a little insight into how a sketched wall turns into something quite remarkable. The zebra on the left is almost complete, but the horse on the right seems to be only half done. What a pity he never got to complete it, because from what we see here, it is a real cracker.

2197. North Street

This is one of a few new pieces organised by Upfest who are curating some hoardings around a tower block on North Street. It is of course by the magnificent Silent Hobo who expertly, through his observations, chronicles contemporary youth culture in Bristol.

Silent Hobo, North Street, Bristol, May 2019
Silent Hobo, North Street, Bristol, May 2019

Silent Hobo has created an urban scene that looks a lot like the DIY skate park under the M32, although it is fairly generic and could portray any urban flyover. He has captured mood and movement in this piece and is beating the drum for this great city. It was a difficult piece to photograph because it is behind a fence, and I was on my toes, arms at full extension, which would explain why the edges are a little cut-off. Such a fine piece.

2194. Mina Road (4)

Mina Road, (pronounced my na) rather conveniently runs between the M32 roundabout in St Agnes and St Werburghs, and is a cut-through I use sometimes when I’m out grabbing shots of street/graffiti art. New hoardings are often a magnet for spray-can artists and this spanking new one has landed this splendid Epok piece.

Epok, Mina Road, Bristol, May 2019
Epok, Mina Road, Bristol, May 2019

Spelling our EPOK, this is a classic work from the artist, incorporating a complex selection of colours and that wonderful combination of curves and straight lines and angles that he excels at. A really great piece of writing, and how much nicer than the dull woodchip wall.