Unfurl in my arms
unravel in my embrace
safety in numbers.
by Scooj
Tag: Bristol
206. Stokes Croft, Canteen (2)
No self-respecting Bristol street art blogger can ignore what is probably regarded as the most Bristol Banksy of them all. The Mild Mild West still sits proudly on the wall outside the Canteen, and opposite Cosmo Sarson’s Breakdancing Jesus, in spite of attempts to vandalise it (layered irony there).
This iconic Banksy (and which ones aren’t) tells so many Bristol stories, which are really nicely captured in this 2008 article from the The Telegraph. I see this wall pretty much every day and it is special, really special. The area in which it stands is an area which has played host to several riots, the most recent of which was the ‘boycott Tesco’ riot.
So established is this piece, that it makes it into the ‘Visit Bristol’ website as a must see attraction. How things have changed from the days of rounding up and arresting Bristol street artists.
This work simply has to be one of my all time favourite pieces in my adopted city.
205. The Bearpit (14)
In the South East tunnel of the Bearpit you may this wonderful and very typical work by Angus (although nothing lasts very long there). It is a fun piece featuring Meg Griffin from the Family Guy, a TV cartoon I don’t watch so can’t explain any more about the work. Over the last few years Angus has burst onto the Bristol graffiti scene, and being a local street artist, he has had many great influences all around him.
If you want to know more about Angus, there is a lovely interview with him on the Best of Bristol website, which I thoroughly recommend reading. I rather hope to bump into him at some time, because he seems like a really decent bloke. I like the familiarity and crispness of his work.
Angus is also a member of The Secret Society of Super Villain Artists (SSOSVA) – you will see more artists from this group in future posts.
Treading water
Floating about in
a sea of uncertainty;
hold on or let go?
by Scooj
204. Cheltenham Road, Metropolis hoardings
These hoardings rarely have decent works sprayed on them because they get painted off almost immediately…it may be that the owners of the site don’t want the hoardings to become a practice wall. The result is that the hoardings are heavily tagged instead. In among the useless tagging, there was this gem however – an anonymous tribute to DJ Derek. As is is a stencil, I would expect to see it popping up around the place. Simple and touching.
DJ Derek’s funeral took place last week, and there has been no more news about the circumstances of his death. I do not believe they were in any way suspicious.
203. Brunswick Square hut
Brunswick Square is a reasonably recent discovery for me, which is why it has taken me so long to find this work by Dan. I posted another of his works in Hillgrove Street back in October 2015, but I really struggle to find out much about him at all. I know the piece was sprayed in 2009.
I have lifted he backstory quote from Dan to this wonderful work from the Wooster Collective website and it is as follows:
“After the opening of a new multi-million pounds mall in the city centre of Bristol. All the areas around have been proclaimed “no street drinking zone” giving the homeless people and the local street drinkers no choices but to leave the area. As a result of this, the number of street drinkers is considerably increased in deprived areas where the drinking ban is not so strictly enforced.”
Special Brew, the drink pictured, is a strong lager favoured by heavy drinkers.
202. Greville Road (2)
This is a contemporary political stencil that I came across recently during a stroll down North Street. It is a controversial piece from an artist who is known for using iconic figures in his works – usually celebrities. In this instance he has conflated two ‘hate figures’…Adolf Hitler and Donald Trump, in a very interesting way. Edgy stuff, which makes it all the more attractive to me.
Pegasus is originally from Chicago, but now lives and works out of North London. He has a fairly substantial Wikipedia page, and a good website containing more about him and his works.
This is one of many political pieces in Bristol that are emerging as we enter into election periods in the midst of austerity. I expect more.
Bittercress
Frail unpretentious
flower too small to notice
too fair to ignore.
by Scooj
201. Stokes Croft various, Bristol
I am going to break with tradition for my 201st street art post, and talk about an unknown tagger. I have been seeing a lot of this tag lately, and my first instinct is to rather enjoy it…certainly better than scrawling black initials over everything. This may be an attempt by a new artist to start marking their presence before graduating onto something more ambitious, I certainly hope so. Here are a few sites from the Stokes Croft area that started appearing in March 2016.
Unknown tag, Stokes Croft, Bristol, March/April 2016
Unknown tag, Stokes Croft, Bristol, March/April 2016
Unknown tag, Stokes Croft, Bristol, March/April 2016
Unknown tag, Stokes Croft, Bristol, March/April 2016
Maybe I’ll get to find out who it is and observe their progress.
Her Monday morning
Squinting through makeup
that fails to cover the truth;
a heavy weekend.
by Scooj
Natural adventures 