Tag: ASK

3062. Armada Place (20)

Armada Place is one of my favourite spots, but over recent years it has become rather quieter than it used to be and the quality of most of the graffiti there seems to have dropped a little. How wonderful it was then to stumble across this lovely piece from Sled One last week.

Sled One, Armada Place, Bristol, July 2020
Sled One, Armada Place, Bristol, July 2020

The piece is yet another surreal and strange piece depicting a figure hoiking out his skull from his face… I know how he feels! While looking at the scene unfold, it would be easy to miss that this is actually a blend of graffiti writing and a character scene… verify clever work. The writing says SLED.

Sled One, Armada Place, Bristol, July 2020
Sled One, Armada Place, Bristol, July 2020

As always with Sled One’s work, the piece is fantastically finished and so easy on the eye. His style of painting and the immense skill and experience he has makes it all look so easy and effortless. Go find it!

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).

3031. M32 roundabout J3 (225)

I can’t remember when I last saw a new piece from Ments, but it is quite some time ago. The word I always use to describe his work is ‘organic’ and it most definitely applies to this recent piece on the M32 roundabout.

Ments, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2020
Ments, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2020

This is a delicate piece that feels rather ephemeral, and is so unlike the work of more conventional graffiti writers. It is quite hard to make out the letters MENTS, but I assure you they are there. This is an accomplished piece painted with great skill, however it isn’t my favourite work by the artist, something feels a little unbalanced about it… I am though, being hyper-critical because it is actually very, very good.

2985. Dean Lane skate park (321)

It took me a second trip to this wall in Dean Lane to get some decent photographs. The first effort was marred by a large shadow cast across the left hand side of the piece, and that simply wouldn’t do. The stunning work is a collaboration between 3Dom and Sepr.

3Dom and Sepr, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2020
3Dom and Sepr, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2020

The easing of restrictions from lock down a couple of weeks back led to an upsurge in high quality pieces, and it has been difficult to keep on top of them, this though is one that is likely to stay for a while. The writing is by 3Dom and the elephant and mouse by Sepr.

3Dom and Sepr, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2020
3Dom and Sepr, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2020

I have seen similar writing from 3Dom before, there was something very similar on the side of a van I recall. It is easy to forget that he is as talented at graffiti writing as he is at free-form street art. The elephant and mouse is typically humorous and warm from Sepr, who has a talent for telling great stories with his art work. This collaboration is a real gem.

3Dom, Raleigh Road, Bristol, January 2018
3Dom, Raleigh Road, Bristol, January 2018

2979. Dean Lane skate park (319)

Some pieces are so unexpected and so awesome that when you see them one is met with surprise and a little bit of confusion, and so it was for me when I came across this unbelievable geometric abstract collaboration from Piro and Epok in Dean Lane.

Piro and Epok, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2020
Piro and Epok, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2020

This very classy piece is what I would term a true collaboration, where it is impossible to unpick which bits were done by which artist. The piece is composed of three overlapping large triangles each with a different fill incorporating all sorts of designs, softened with a few circles. This is a really unusual piece for Dean Lane and is something one might expect to see at a street art festival. Perhaps it was created in lieu of Upfest this year. Pure joy.

2977. M32 Spot (73)

It took two trips to this spot to be able to get any decent pictures. On my first visit, the sun was very bright indeed and a horizontal shadow was cast across the top half of the piece… my photographs were unusable.

3Dom, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2020
3Dom, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2020

This is a magnificent collaboration between 3Dom and Feek and one of the first to be painted since the lock down restrictions were slightly eased. On the left is an extraordinary character by 3Dom built up of five or six distinct elements: a raspberry head with a target, a geometric torso, wicker basket bottom, fractured legs and fabulous slippers. The character is balancing on a tightrope.

Feek, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2020
Feek, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2020

Opposite is a character from Feek, wearing a barrel on his head riding a unicycle on the same tightrope, a parrot nervously hanging on to the seat of the unicycle. The whole piece is a celebration of circus in a burst of colour and surreal ideas, and is the kind of outstanding piece that doesn’t come around every day.

3Dom and Feek, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2020
3Dom and Feek, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2020

Between the two tightrope acts is a beautifully painted ASK (After School Klub) written in circus-style Block script, which holds the two halves together with great skill. This is a truly exceptional piece and one that has been well worth the wait.

2965. M32 Spot (72)

I was familiar with the M32 Spot some time before I started photographing street art, because I used to drop my then 12 year old son off for wet-weather skateboarding. The M32 Spot DIY skatepark was pretty much the only (free) skate park option when it rained, and for a skating obsessed boy this was the destination of choice. That boy turns 18 next weekend. Where did that time go?

Feek, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2020
Feek, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2020

This lovely piece by Feek, like so many pieces by the artist, really chimes with the skating community. The painting features a monster contributing to the DIY building of the skate park. My favourite bit… his signature in the teeth.

2931. Raleigh Road Vector (31)

It seems somewhat remarkable that so many Soker pieces have been left behind in my archive over the last few years, but on the upside, it means I can share them with you now, while there is something of a slowdown with the appearance of new work in Bristol at the moment. I feel that things might be about to change however, with a slight relaxation of lock down.

Soker, Raleigh Road, Bristol, June 2018
Soker, Raleigh Road, Bristol, June 2018

This is a stunninng, crisp, clean and very easy on the eye piece of writing from Soker on a hoarding that sadly no longer exists. A beautiful design, great colour selection and fabulous 3D shadow that lifts the piece from the background all add up to piece of the highest quality from this master graffiti writer.

2930. St Mark’s Avenue (8)

This is the last piece for the time being from St Mark’s Avenue, although I still have several in the archive to share at another time. It is yet another masterful piece from Deamze whose work still occupies the dark recesses of various folders on my computer.

Deamze, St Mark's Avenue, Bristol, September 2019
Deamze, St Mark’s Avenue, Bristol, September 2019

I am not overly fond of the Smurfs. I was just a little too old for them, when they first emerged onto our screens and so I sneered at the show considering it to be babyish. Furthermore, I just don’t like gnome type things. Deamze however has managed to create a rather special Smurfs piece in St Mark’s Avenue, probably some time ago.

Deamze, St Mark's Avenue, Bristol, September 2019
Deamze, St Mark’s Avenue, Bristol, September 2019

The pink and blue shapes spell out DEAMZ although it is difficult to see from the tight angles of the pictures, and the cheeky little Smurf, like so many of Deamze’s characters is painting the wall with a spray can. Great work once again.

2928. St Mark’s Avenue (6)

Back in September 2019 I discovered an alleyway in Easton for the first time. It was one of those moments when I realised just how little I knew about street art in Bristol, that I could have missed this extraordinary spot with so many extraordinary pieces painted there, many of them dating back years.

3Dom, St Mark's Avenue, Bristol, September 2019
3Dom, St Mark’s Avenue, Bristol, September 2019

This piece at the entrance to St Mark’s Avenue (a very grand name for an alleyway) is by 3Dom and features one of his surreal and dreamlike characters that immediately tell you who the artist is. The only other artist in Bristol with whom his work could be confused  is Sled One.

3Dom, St Mark's Avenue, Bristol, September 2019
3Dom, St Mark’s Avenue, Bristol, September 2019

There is some deep pathos in this scene, in the way that the character is looking at a small flower plucked from the human-created devastation all around. An environmental message here. I don’t know how old the piece is, a few years at least, but I am still excited by discovering it.

If you’d like to see more from this artist/tattooist check out his Instagram account