Tag: Bristol

2233. The Bearpit (182)

Always lighthearted, the work of Nevla is instantly recognisable by his cartoon style and minimal use of colours. Often although not always, his pieces are on the small side and generally speaking are simply sprayed ove other stuff, a bit like a throw up really. To give the piece a bit of defiition he goes round the whole thing with a thick colour line, in this example it is a blue line.

Nevla, The Bearpit, Bristol, May 2019
Nevla, The Bearpit, Bristol, May 2019

I don’t know if his caption ‘soul contact’ is a wordplay on ‘sole contact’ or not, but it kind of works. His whole style feels very free, and looks like it would be equally at home on the page of a sketch pad as it is on The Bearpit wall. Great to see that some artists are still painting this spot, in spite of a council clampdown.

2232. Moon Street (71)

For the last 11 years there has been a rather mad festival centered around the Stokes Croft area called RaveOnAvon. It is frankly a bit of a booze, drugs and music party that is focussed on three or four live music venues but spills out onto the streets from dusk until dawn. You simply would not believe the mess the following morning. The links between graffiti art and the Bristol music scene are close, and this rather funky piece by Jaksta rather emphasises the point.

Jaksta, Moon Street, Bristol, May 2019
Jaksta, Moon Street, Bristol, May 2019

You know you are getting old when one of your children actually goes to an event such as this one. I didn’t ask too many questions. Jaksta, a member of the RAW crew, is a brilliant character artist and creates these wonderful exaggerated bodies ina cartoon style that never disappoints. It is also great to see something decent appear on this particular bit of hoarding, because recently it has been a bit trashy.

This was the last RaveOnAvon ever, because most of the music venues’ days are numbered. They are due to be demolished soon to make way for… da da daah… student accommodations. Gentrification will rob us of a major strand of Bristol culture and provide housing, not for those that really need it, but for the ever-growing student population in Bristol. Of course, students need to live somewhere, but I fear this particular growth bubble will burst, and maybe then affordable housing will become available.

2231. St Werburghs tunnel (83)

It has been rather a long time since I saw anything from Eraze. There was a period when he used to do the odd piece in Dean Lane, but I can’t recall anything there for ages, so it was a nice surprise to see this in St Werburghs tunnel recently.

Eraze, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2019
Eraze, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2019

I am more familiar with his character pieces, but this is a fine bit of writing with bright colours on a black background. I rather like the white edging and the way it cuts into the letters. Altogether a rather uplifting and happy piece.

Thursday doors – 30 May 2019

Doors 73 – Bristol doors, various.

Another slightly rushed post this week, a random selection of Bristol doors that might have seen better days, but are all the more characterful for their journeys.

Tagged door, Moon Street, Bristol, March 2019
Tagged door, Moon Street, Bristol, March 2019
Lakota back door, Moon Street, Bristol, March 2019
Lakota back door, Moon Street, Bristol, March 2019
Just a door somewhere in Bristol, March 2019
Just a door somewhere in Bristol, March 2019
Doors, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2019
Doors, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2019
Important notice, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2019
Important notice, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2019
Warehouse doors, Gardiner Haskins building, Bristol, March 2019
Warehouse doors, Gardiner Haskins building, Bristol, March 2019
Warehouse doors, Gardiner Haskins building, Bristol, March 2019
Warehouse doors, Gardiner Haskins building, Bristol, March 2019

And that’s it for another week.

For more doors take a good look at the Norm 2.0 blog – the mastermind behind Thursday Doors where there are links to yet more doors in the comments section at the end.

 

by Scooj

2230. Stokes Croft

Well you have seen a couple of these now in recent posts, so you should be able to tell me the artist’s name. It is of course yet another sensational wheatpaste by French artist Tian who visited Bristol in early May, I think. Once again I am left uncertain who is featured in this stencil paste up, but the detail on the tattoo is incredible.

Tian, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2019
Tian, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2019

I absolutely love this one, not only for its technical brilliance, but also for the interesting pose and picture selected and more so the exact spot where the piece was pasted. A window that was already fairly heavily fly-posted and stickered is no dominated by this beautiful woman. One of my favourites of his great portfolio of work. Still many more to come.

2229. The Bearpit (181)

A lovely artist who managed to stay under my radar until last year has become rather busy of late. I refer of course to Nightwayss whose pieces seem to focus around a monkey, either as the central character of a work or by reference.

Nightwayss, The Bearpit, Bristol, May 2019
Nightwayss, The Bearpit, Bristol, May 2019

In this piece Nightwayss has painted a wonderful monkey hanging by its tail and gently scooping at what looks like a large flower. The monkey is set on a black ‘NIGHT’, a great way to combine writing with a character. The modest colours and size of the whole thing emphasise its delicateness in the urban bustle of The Bearpit. I love this piece – a little oasis of peace and calm.

Die Fledermaus

.

My heart uplifted

watching tiny bats flap by

as day becomes night.

.

by Scooj

2228. Byron Street

This remarkable and rather large piece adjacent to the M32 roundabout is one of Seven Saints of St Pauls, a project conceived by Bristol artist Michele Curtis to celebrate key people who shaped Bristol’s black community. This mural features Roy Hackett, a Jamaican, who arrived in Britain in 1952 and became co-founder of the Commonwealth Co-ordinated Committee (CCC) which was started 1962.

Michele Curtis and the Paintsmiths, Byron Street, Bristol, May 2019
Michele Curtis and the Paintsmiths, Byron Street, Bristol, May 2019

His story of employment in Liverpool, Wolverhampton, London and Bristol is fascinating. He went on to become one of the founders of the famous St Paul’s Festival and took part in the bus boycott in 1963 which protested against the bus company’s refusal to recruit black drivers or crews. This mural recognises Roy Hacketts part in this boycott. A wonderful history of Roy Hackett can be found in this Bristol Archive record.

Michele Curtis and the Paintsmiths, Byron Street, Bristol, May 2019
Michele Curtis and the Paintsmiths, Byron Street, Bristol, May 2019

The Paintsmiths are a group of artists who work on commissions, paint at events and support workshops, and include Felix Braun and Sled One. This piece, whichever way you look at is is utterly awesome and perfectly reflercts the amazing St Pauls community.

2227. M32 roundabout J3 (145)

This is one of my favourite Smak pieces of the year so far, and my goodness there are a lot to choose from. This is another of his ‘double vision’ pieces where he has written SMAK twice and in this instance has played around with fonts and styles reminiscent of another brilliant graffiti writer, SkyHigh.

Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2019
Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2019

Often when photographing street art, I am confounded by parked cars or wheely bins that wind me up a treat. It is funny how I am somehow much more forgiving of a tree obscuring the art, although being a naturalist at heart it shouldn’t be a surprise. Wonderful piece by Smak on a great wall.

2226. Dean Lane skate park (212)

Earlier on this month, this fabulous Disney Robin Hood piece appeared in Dean Lane. I would have posted it sooner because it is a really classy work, but it has taken me a little while to uncover the artist. I would guess that I could probably identify about half of all the street/graffiti art I see in Bristol, which sounds good until you turn it around… I struggle with about half of it. Instagram and Google searches are my most valuable tools in finding out more about ‘unknown’ pieces, and in fact one of the reasons I started doing these posts is to help others facing the same difficulties and who simply want to know more. This I can confidently say is by Warp.

Warp, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2019
Warp, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2019

Warp, also known as Sam Giles Art and Design, is an artist whose work I haven’t consciously registered before, but whose name I am familiar with through Facebook. He works in Devon and Bristol and is a self-taught graffiti artist and designer. I think the letters here spell out SEBA and the whole piece is nicely executed with King John and Sir Hiss bookending the whole thing. Nice fun piece – I look forward to seeing more.