Tag: Bristol

770. The Bearpit (66)

Street art and graffiti can often tell a story about the ever-evolving scene. The original piece by Angus, which is one of his favourite stencil concepts was sprayed as part of the paint jam in the Bearpit over Easter.

Angus, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2017
Angus, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2017

Angus had completed the work by the time I got down there, but it was still in pristine condition. Now, I understand that taggers really have very little time for stencil art, and don’t take long to spoil it, or ‘add’ to it with their own scrawlings and witticisms. By the time I went back the next day there were already quite a few tags on the piece.

Angus with extras from Dice 67, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2017
Angus with extras from Dice 67, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2017

How brilliant then, that Dice 67 went the extra mile and augmented the piece with a fabulous stencil of his daughter spraying the words ‘I must not write on the walls’. How brilliant is that – a living piece that takes a pop at taggers, but in a really clever way, and sets the piece off beautifully. Evolution.

Angus with extras from Dice 67, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2017
Angus with extras from Dice 67, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2017

769. The Bearpit (65)

Sirens is an artist that I have only recently come across, and I have to say that on both occasions I have met him, I really enjoyed our conversations and what he has to say about his art.

Sirens, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2017
Sirens, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2017

His work is on the fine art side of the spectrum, and it is possible to see that there might be numerous influences in his work. This piece, again of an industrial environment is in one of the tunnels of The Bearpit, and offers both a depressing scene, and also an uplifting one in the single work. I like his style, and believe he is still developing, so I await further appearances and opportunities to chat.

768. Waterloo Place (1)

There are two artists in Bristol who are performing at the top of their game at the moment, Deamze and Voyder. Deamze consistantly turns out superb wildstyle pieces and absorbs styles and characters into his pieces with ease, but it is Voyder who, in my opinion, is hitting a new level with his work.

Deamze, Waterloo Place, Bristol, April 2017
Deamze, Waterloo Place, Bristol, April 2017

This bright collaboration can be found on the wall at the back of the Sofa Project in Old Market. It is so, so good that it really does have to be seen in the flesh. There is a consistent thread of the colour scheme and a diagonal line through both pieces that cuts through the writing, and with which both artists have treated the line as a breaking point in the work – so thought out and skilful.

Deamze, Waterloo Place, Bristol, April 2017
Deamze, Waterloo Place, Bristol, April 2017

I would like to focus a little – which is hard to do with two such immense pieces – on Voyder’s half of the collaboration, because I think this is the best piece I have seen from him, ever. The neon line zig-zagging through the Lichtenstein influenced brush strokes is masterful. Look at the shadows and the light that radiates from the neon. Just amazing.

Voyder, Waterloo Place, Bristol, April 2017
Voyder, Waterloo Place, Bristol, April 2017

Voyder has mastered his technique, and I don’t quite know where he goes from here. He has just been getting better and better with every piece and I consider him to be the king of writing in Bristol right now. If you don’t agree, just get down and take a close look at this piece. The best collaborative piece of the year so far as far as I am concerned. Love it (just in case you hadn’t figured that yet).

Voyder, Waterloo Place, Bristol, April 2017
Voyder, Waterloo Place, Bristol, April 2017

767. Ashley Road (13)

Some real luck with this one. I was returning from dropping my niece off at Temple Meads station and deliberately drove home via a few graffiti spots, and whose work should I see on the hoardings at the top of Ashley Road…Silent Hobo.

Silent Hobo, Ashley Road, Bristol, April 2017
Silent Hobo, Ashley Road, Bristol, April 2017

I hadn’t seen or met him before so I wasn’t going to miss this chance and found a place to park and went to introduce myself. He was spraying with another artist who was working on the wildstyle writing in the middle of the piece. This was Logoe, who I was told by Silent Hobo is a celebrated Bristol graffiti artist from years gone by, and has just returned to the city – this is his first back since his homecoming.

Silent Hobo and Logoe, Ashley Road, Bristol, April 2017
Silent Hobo and Logoe, Ashley Road, Bristol, April 2017

Both were absolute gents and didn’t appear to mind me stopping to watch a while and chat a bit. I asked why Silent Hobo had appeared to have a break and was now, over recent weeks, churning out pieces very regularly…well it was all down to childcare…ah the freedom that childcare affords us parents.

Logoe, Ashley Road, Bristol, April 2017
Logoe, Ashley Road, Bristol, April 2017

The whole piece works well, I have always liked Silent Hobo’s anime influenced characters, and Logoe’s writing is a real treat.

Silent Hobo and Logoe, Ashley Road, Bristol, April 2017
Silent Hobo and Logoe, Ashley Road, Bristol, April 2017

The piece is in an area that tends to get very badly tagged very quickly – it will be interesting to see how long this lasts. So far it has survived two weeks unscathed – recognition of the status and quality of the work.

Silent Hobo and Logoe, Ashley Road, Bristol, April 2017
Silent Hobo and Logoe, Ashley Road, Bristol, April 2017
Silent Hobo and Logoe, Ashley Road, Bristol, April 2017
Silent Hobo and Logoe, Ashley Road, Bristol, April 2017

Bristol 10k

.

Thousands gathering

clutching bib numbers and phones;

Lycra migration.

.

by Scooj

For once it can’t be me. 

.

Unbelievable 

amount of hair wrapped round the

vacuum cleaner brush. 

.

by Scooj

766. North Street Green (7)

This piece from our very own Jody (when I say ‘our’, I mean Bristol’s) was something of a promotional stunt for Huff Post. He had been lined up to do a live spray, during which he unveiled the new Huff Post logo – the video has had more than 200k views…not bad really.

Jody and Cheo, North Street, Bristol, April 2017
Jody and Cheo, North Street, Bristol, April 2017

Not long after the piece was completed and the brouhaha had subsided, the logo was painted out, and then not too long after that, Cheo sprayed a bee on the hand. One in the eye for the corporates.

Jody and Cheo, North Street, Bristol, April 2017
Jody and Cheo, North Street, Bristol, April 2017

This coming together, albeit a bit haphazardly, leaves us with a really rather wonderful piece. The grayscale hand, so beautifully crafted, is the prefect partner for the vibrant and rather cheeky bee. Glad I got to see the completed thing before I knew about the backstory.

Hope

 

Azure blue heaven

fills my heart with hope, lately

in such short supply.

 

by Scooj

764. M32 roundabout, J3 (36)

I saw this piece recently and had to do a double take. It is by Zase and Dekor, but so unlike anything I have seen from them before. Not the highly polished, meticulous work I am used to seeing, rather a fun quick piece, that almost looks incomplete. Nothing like this or even this which I have posted before.

Zase and Dekor, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2017
Zase and Dekor, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2017

The wildstyle writing clearly spells out Zase, and the characters are clearly influenced by the hand of Dekor, but somehow the whole doesn’t look like a work from them.

Zase and Dekor, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2017
Zase and Dekor, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2017

In a way it is great to see artists letting their hair down and just having fun. No pressure, no commission, just fun.