Tag: ASK

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

2925. Dean Lane skate park (309)

This wonderful triptych collaboration from Piro, 45RPM and Epok appeared last september on the garage wall at Dean Lane. Don’t ask me why I never posted it… inexplicable. This collaboration follows the format of sharing a wall and colour scheme with three associated pieces.

Piro, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019
Piro, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019

On the left is a fabulous piece of graffiti writing from Piro, an artist whose work is almost entirely absent from Natural Adventures, which is a pity, because he has an incredible style and technique. His work is always incredibly tight.

45RPM, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019
45RPM, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019

The centrepiece character is by 45RPM depicting a devilish glass of beer or perhaps ginger beer or something more alcoholic altogether. This is a nice feature that joins the two pieces of graffiti writing really well, a segue beer if you like.

Epok, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019
Epok, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019

The piece on the right is from Epok and is absolutely stunning in my book. The letters spell out EPOK and the design and colour elements of the writing are so very easy on the eye. I haven’t seen much from Epok lately, so finding this one in my ‘coronavirus’ archive was a real treat.

2916. Sandbed Road

Here is another of those old ones, that inexplicably ended up on the cutting room floor. It is hidden away in St Werburghs and is by the hugely talented 3Dom. I think that I might have held back on posting it because the light is all wrong in the photographs and in my mind may have considered returning to take some better pictures. Of course, that never happened. The piece is much older than the pictures.

3Dom, Sandbed Road, Bristol, May 2019
3Dom, Sandbed Road, Bristol, May 2019

I envy the owners of this house having a lovely clean 3Dom piece on their wall and it certainly is a bit of a landmark in this quiet backwater. I’m not at all sure I know what the story is here, but there is a definite connection with nature going on, which is a very topical subject just at the moment. It is a beautiful piece with tranquility and menace in equal measure.

2899. M32 cycle path (57)

Aah, it is so easy to forget how bright and shiny (or shite and briney as an old colleague of mine used to say) this collaboration was when it was painted. Its quality has stood the test of time and it remained untouched for a very long spell – I think it has finally been painted over.

Dot Rotten, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2018
Dot Rotten, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2018

The collaboration on the M32 cycle path from 2018 was painted by Dot Rotten (SPOILT), Sled One and Smak. Dot Rotten is an artist Idon’t think I have posted before, but while I have been going through my archive recently I have spotted quite a few of his pieces, so expect more in the coming days/weeks.

Sled One, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2018
Sled One, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2018

Sled One has done here what Sled One does everywhere and that is turned out a high-quality character piece with great panache and style. The skull s beautifully drafted and has an animated humour about it. A nice touch to have an ASK speech bubble coming out of the cigarette.

Smak, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2018
Smak, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2018

On the right hand side of the collaboration is a clean, crisp and straight forward Smak piece which stands out from the wall thanks to the yellow outline and bright highlight spots. The whole collaboration has been painted on a shared background and colour selections and was a welcoming sight on this stretch of cycle path.

2895. Raleigh Road vector (30)

This long piece is a bit of a monster and unusually garish for Soker. It has the appearance of a huge washing up session with the grimey green slime getting a bit of a clean up from the bubbly water. The SOKER will come clean.

Soker, Raleigh Road, Bristol, February 2019
Soker, Raleigh Road, Bristol, February 2019

Painted in February last year, the piece would have been one of the last to appear on this particular wall, because not long after the hoardings were removed and the block of flats inhabited. Previously the empty lot had been a wonderful spot and was used every year by Upfest. Another loss to the Bristol street art community, but at least the housing provided looks like it was appropriately affordable.

2891. New Stadium Road (23)

Due to his incredible turnover, it was always inevitable that some pieces by Deamze were going to get left behind in the vast filing system that is my archive. Thanks to the lock down I am going through old unpublished material because so little contemporary stuff is being painted just now.

Deamze, New Stadium Road, Bristol, March 2017
Deamze, New Stadium Road, Bristol, March 2017

All the hallmarks of a great Deamze piece are here… the angular technical and complex wildstyle writing and a cute little character. I think that the character is meant to be Garfield, and if it is, then for once it is a bit of a dud from Deamze in terms of its likeness. If it is not Garfield, then it is a brilliant little cat, and who doesn’t like cat street art?